


Blooming Into You (Or Under You, Maybe Over You, It's All Good)

by Beelsebutt



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon Compliant, Dorks in Love, Drunk Matt too, Drunk Shiro will appear, Fluff, Getting Together, Half the Fic is Established Shatt, Healthy Shiro, Living Together, M/M, No it's not Shatt Wedding, POV Alternating, Post-War, Slice of Life, THERE WILL BE A WEDDING, attempted humor, background hunay, background klance, past angst, slowish burn, so much smooching, written pre-season 8
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-01
Updated: 2019-06-07
Packaged: 2020-04-06 03:30:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 39,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19054366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beelsebutt/pseuds/Beelsebutt
Summary: A story of how Matt and Shiro finally get together after losing each other multiple times during the years they spent in space.Written forShatt Big Bang 2019(Tumblr@shattbigbang). Comes with lovelyEm'sfantastic art in Chapters 7 and 9 <3 (Tumblr@hydraxx)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the longest fic I've ever written. Also it's a pretty boring fic but I guess I write what I wanna read, and if I wanna read these two dumb boys being together without much drama, just swimming in fluffy goodness, that's my prerogative.
> 
> Also, I wasn't able to keep a beta for this fic (possibly bc it's soooooo dull :P) so it's full of grammar errors. Go nuts if you can stomach it. English is not my first, so...
> 
> Thanks to [Elly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eilera/) for the help with the fantastic title <3
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> Hox! Voltron fandom doesn't belong to me. I'm not making money with this nor do I want to. Just having fun with borrowed characters. I'll return them! ...eventually.
> 
> * * *

The alarm went off at 6 am.

Shiro woke with a jolt. He had finally fallen asleep after rolling around in his bed for what it felt like eternity. Still, getting at least a couple hours was better than getting no sleep.

He sat up, stretching his arm and legs, then yawned while groping blindly for his prosthetic. Because of the socket on his shoulder, he couldn't lie on his right side anymore, and before Kerberos, it had been his favorite side to sleep on. Probably because Adam had favored the left side of the bed.

Apparently some habits die hard.

He put on his sweatpants, tightening the drawstring, and went for his morning jog, like he had done for so many years, even while living in the Castle. The brisk morning air made goosebumps rise on his bare arms.

This morning, he didn't have time for a full run, just the little warm up to get his day started. To get his feet pounding against the ground. To get his head cleared from the things he saw every night.

It felt so much better now that he had real ground beneath his feet. Somehow it made everything more palpable. Maybe because in the Castle, he knew underneath the floor, there was just the endless space.

Half an hour later, Shiro headed back towards the officers' building where his quarters were. After a quick shower, he dressed up in his full uniform, medals and all, and marched down the parking lot to get one of the official Garrison hover cars. He had an appointment to get to, and he didn't want to be late.

*

Shiro stared at the papers in his hand. It was unbelievable. After years, no, after decades of knowing _for sure_ that his body was going to betray him sooner or later, he finally had it. A clearance.

Free of all illnesses.

Of course he already knew it. Coran had run several tests on his body as soon as they got the pods working on Earth, but Shiro needed the local doctors' opinion. He needed to see it with his own eyes, the papers declaring him healthy, written by the same doctors who had treated him so many years ago.

Healthy.

The whole world was open for him. No more Arena. No more war. No more space travels, though if he was honest with himself, he could maybe do with a little bit of space travel after a while.

Shiro shoved the papers in his messenger bag, adjusted the strap and headed for the doors. He got out and was squinting at the bright sunlight, when someone walked right into him.

He wasn't prepared and almost fell down, his arms reflexively wrapping around the other stumbling body, steadying them both.

"Sorry, sorry, oh god, sorry…" a familiar voice was babbling at Shiro's chest.

"That's alright, are you– Matt?"

They hadn't really seen each other during the last few months, Shiro being busy making public appearances and helping in any way he could, Matt organizing the worldwide logistics, helping set up the new defense grids, cleaning up the mess the Galra had left in their network, probably doing a thousand other things Shiro hadn't even heard about. Still, he would have recognized Matt anywhere.

Matt had his long hair tied in a ponytail, the strands of it escaping the rubber band, flying on his eyes in the gush of wind. He brushed them off while looking up and down at Shiro and smiling.

"Long time no seen," Matt said. "If I didn't see you every day on news feeds, I would have thought you'd dropped off the planet. You've missed the last, oh, ten Sunday dinners by now."

"Yeah," Shiro said, blushing a bit under Matt's intense stare. He hadn't gone to the Holts Sunday dinner lately. He had tried to, but it had been too much for him.

The first time was right after finishing off the last of Galra. It was a small affair with all the paladins and all the Holts. And of course, Matt's girlfriend. The next one after that had been bigger, kind of like a real celebration. Even Iverson had shown up along with Garrett family and of course, Mcclain family. They had had to set up a campsite backyard because even the Holts didn't have enough room for so many people.

It had been too much for Shiro. Way too much. He remembered how Matt had found him fake-sleeping in his old room. He had stayed in the room for minute or two, presumably staring at Shiro while he tried to keep his breathing steady. After Matt had finally gone back to the backyard, Shiro had waited a moment before saying his goodnights to the Holts.

The Garrison had provided him with an officer class room that had a private bathroom and too much closet space.

It was fine, though, it was just a place to sleep.

"What're you doing here? You don't look like you were hit by a bus," Matt chuckled. "You sick or something?"

"You mean the hospital?" Shiro asked, glancing at the large shining glass doors behind him. "They just finished the last tests today, I finally got healthy papers."

Shiro dug the papers out of his bag again to show them to Matt who gave them a cursory glance.

"I thought Coran already made some pods for Garrison to use?"

"Yeah, they did," Shiro admitted, feeling a little stupid. "I just needed the Earth doctors to say the same. They're the ones who, you know... I saw them a lot before... before Kerberos."

"Sure thing, I remember," Matt nodded, tucking his hands in his pockets. "Sooooo, celebratory drinks first, or should we go full on party mode? There's a strip club a few blocks down."

"What? No! How do you know there's a strip club? Aren't you dating N-7?"

Matt cackled, shaking his head.

"Oh man, she'd been in the first row, spending way too much 'Earth Money' because even with the Cogni Tool she didn't have a clue what was the difference between one dollar and a hundo. Thank fuck I'm broke, so she couldn't spend all my money."

"Oh?" Shiro was flabbergasted. The conversation had taken a very weird turn. "So, where is she?"

"Went back to Akiba, she was here just for the exotic experience," Matt grinned. "And you gotta admit, there are few things more exotic than me, right?"

Shiro laughed, he couldn't help it. Matt was standing in a superman pose, strands of hair flailing around his face, his eyes glinting in mischief. And he looked _good_.

Shiro had missed Matt. Not consciously, he had been too busy for that, but now that he actually saw Matt, could even _touch_ Matt if he wanted to, the realization hit him like a brick.

"I agree," Shiro folded his hands behind his back. "You are quite a sight to see."

Matt winked at Shiro, and handed the papers back.

"So, do you have some important hero business to attend to, or are you free to grab a coffee?"

Matt said it so easily, and Shiro couldn't even bring himself to go for a hug. Would it be weird to do now? Yes, it would. He should have hugged Matt right from the start. He had the memories of the clone and he knew his _body_ had hugged Matt when Pidge found him, but he had never had the pleasure. Not after they left for Kerberos.

Shiro shook his head to clear his thoughts. This was not the right time nor the place to be thinking about Kerberos.

The wind seemed chillier somehow, and Shiro wrapped his arms around him, barely noticing how Matt's eyebrows rose up.

"So, no for the coffee, or no for the hero business?"

Shiro realized, he hadn't answered the question.

"Oh, yeah, we can grab coffee, sure! Yeah, I'd like that! It's been a while."

"I'm not gonna even ask for which one it's been a while because I happen to know that you don't function at all before you get your first cup of coffee, Mr. I'll Have It As Black As The Night," Matt chuckled, nodding towards the nearest coffee shop which was one they'd gone before. In their old lives.

"Fair enough," Shiro chuckled. Matt knew him well, naturally, since they'd been roommates for four years at Garrison. Knew him maybe better than anyone else, even Keith. Maybe even better than Adam had ever known him.

"So, how's life?" Shiro asked to distract himself from thinking about Adam.

And while Matt rattled on about the new fusions they had been doing at Garrison, and around the world, the open patents they had offered free for anyone to use, blueprints for healing pods for every single hospital on Earth, Shiro felt at ease. For the first time, in a very long time.

"Still the black coffee man?" Matt asked, flashing his ID to the register.

"You know it," Shiro answered easily. "You don't have to–"

"Now, now, Shirogane, I asked you out, so it's my treat. You can get the next one," Matt said over his shoulder, before getting a triple espresso for himself, and a regular coffee for Shiro.

They found a table by the corner. It was close to the windows but not right next to them, and Shiro was glad that there was a wall behind his back. Matt didn't seem to have any problems turning his back to the strangers at the cafe, and it made Shiro kind of jealous. Matt didn't even budge as the waiter brought their orders, just thanked him and sipped from his cup.

"Nice digs!" Matt said, looking around. "They must have changed re-decorated here a bunch of times while we were away, but it still has the same... feeling, you know? Like there should be a jukebox in the corner, and waiters with the rollerblades."

Shiro shrugged. Yes, the coffee shop was giving off antique vibes but he wasn't as familiar of Earth's history as Matt was. Back at the Garrison, Matt had force fed him several old classic movies, and he still remembered a particular evening when they had watched the old 1950's Dracula with Matt and Adam. The memory of holding hands with Adam still early in their relationship, sitting a little behind Matt so that he wouldn't notice.

Of course, Matt had known. It was a very real possibility that Matt had known about Shiro's feelings towards Adam even before Shiro realized them himself. But the excitement, the freshness of it all. The memory lingered even now, even if it was marred by the sorrow and pain still residing in his heart.

"Soooo, what've you been up to?" Matt asked, after a moment of silence. He was smiling slightly, like he knew that Shiro's thoughts were miles away but was not offended by it.

"You know, being the poster boy," Shiro answered easily.

"Once the hero, always the hero!" Matt announced a little too loudly. He got a few glances from the patrons sitting around them, but just brushed it off. "Yeah, I know, I've been watching the news feed. You've pretty much got everything covered then? At least, around here?"

"Re-building has been continuing steadily," Shiro admitted. He looked at his coffee cup, gathering his thoughts. "We've got the Garrison back on its feet, and have been sending help to the major cities that suffered the most. But you know this already. I've been watching the news feed too, you know."

Matt shook his head but kept his smile on.

"Sure, yeah. Dad's been pushing me in front of the cameras. I guess he's worried that I don't get recognized enough. I'm not too worried about it, though, I prefer to work from the shadows."

"Like a ninja?" Shiro smirked.

"The coolest ninja there is," Matt nodded, winking for the good measure.

"You're not planning on going back to the rebels?" Shiro asked.

Matt gave Shiro a fond smile. Almost like he knew what the answer meant. Shiro had been pretty sure that all the paladins would stay on Earth, at least for the time being, but Matt was a question mark, now more than ever. Even though there was always the possibility of Keith wanting to join the Blades again, Shiro was confident that he wasn't going to stay away for long, if he even decided to go back.

"I think my rebel years are behind me," Matt said. "I mean, I've seen what space has to offer, I've known and loved many, _many_ aliens," Matt winked again, "but this is where my family is."

Shiro knew the feeling. Even though he didn't have blood relatives alive on Earth anymore, the base was still his home. The paladins his family, and Matt... well, Matt was his friend. For the first time in years, Shiro felt like he belong. He didn't have the urge to reach for the stars anymore. In a few years, sure, he could visit other Alliance planets, why not. The Black Lion wasn't his to command anymore, but he was confident that the traveling part wasn't going to be a problem.

"I'm glad you're here," Shiro said, smiling more genuinely now. "I feel like I've lost too many friends already."

"Not anymore, Shirogane, I'm gonna stick around even if you wouldn't want me to!" Matt boasted. "You couldn't drag me– well, I mean, _technically_ you could because holy shit those muscles! I bet you could still bench press me easily even if I'm no beanpole anymore."

The comment made Shiro look a bit closer. Matt was right, he had finally bulked up. He wasn't the boy who flew to Kerberos with him anymore. The war, the travels. _The abduction,_ had left their mark on Matt as well, and even though his hair hadn't turned white like Shiro's had, he carried visible battle scars. And there was something in his eyes that Shiro didn't quite catch.

Then Matt laughed and broke the spell.

"Easy on the eyes, right?"

"Yeah, very," Shiro chuckled, blushing a bit.

Not that his physique mattered, Matt had always been something worth looking. At some point, Shiro had tried to muster the courage to ask him out, but then Adam had happened, and with Adam, everything had been easy from the start. No pining, no guessing. One day, after the simulation, Adam had just grabbed Shiro by the arm and started to gush about the exercise, praising his test scores and then second-guessing his other abilities in one fluent sentence. It took ten minutes to his mental capacities to Adam, and after that, they had almost kissed.

But even after all these years, Shiro still felt that same tingling when he looked at Matt. He had thought it was just happiness for seeing Matt alive, but now he wondered if it actually was something else.

"Matthew 'The Eye Candy' Holt, at your service," Matt mock bowed at Shiro, still smiling widely. "Fuck, Shirogane, you know this is probably the first time I see you smiling this much, like, forever! After getting your officer stripes, you stopped goofing around. I've been missing that old Shiro."

"Ha! I think that Shiro is dead and buried!" Shiro snorted, then he immediately regretted his choice of words, but Matt didn't seem to mind. 

"That sounds like a challenge. And it's accepted!"

Shiro chortled. Maybe time would tell.

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

Matt didn't see Shiro for a couple of days. Not that he didn't want to, he just didn't have any time to spare. That didn't mean, he wasn't thinking of Shiro, because he was. A lot. But for the most part, he was so engrossed with his work that he even dreamed of coding.

"So, what're you up to?" Pidge asked, after another day of merging Altean tech to their Earth inventions.

"What do you mean?" Matt asked, mumbling a bit because he had a screwdriver in his mouth. He was just attaching the wires into the hybrid and didn't look up.

"You've been acting weird since, I don't know. A couple days at least. So. What're you up to?"

Matt finished tightening the screws before blowing the stray lock of hair off his eyes. Of course Pidge saw through him. She had always seen through him, so why would this be any other case?

"Nothing much. Thought I'd stop by to see Shiro tonight," Matt answered truthfully because lying was pointless for multiple reasons.

"A-Ha," Pidge hummed.

The tone of her voice made Matt looked up. Pidge was sitting on the desk, swaying her legs and looking at him with squinted eyes.

"What? It's the truth!"

"I know it's the truth, moron, you've always sucked at lying."

"Hey, that's not true! I lied plenty while I was in space!" Matt objected.

"Sure, sure, but they don't know you like I do," Pidge pointed out. "So, what're you gonna do with Shiro?"

"What you mean, what am I gonna do? I'm gonna see him, that's all."

Suddenly Pidge looked serious. And if there was something that made the alarm bells ring, it was the fact that his sister suddenly wasn't mocking him.

"You do know that he died, don't you?" Pidge asked.

Matt nodded. Of course he knew. They had covered all that when they first met with Shiro after being separated on Kerberos. Well, it was the second time for Matt but unlike the first time, this time he didn't get that strange vibe from Shiro. This time it was pure 100 % experience of Mr. Shirogane, the renowned pilot and a general hero.

Also, this time, Matt didn't use the honorific.

"And that he has been through a lot, even if you don't count dying?"

"Was there a point? I got briefed about what you did while I was away. I know this stuff," Matt huffed.

"This is shovel talk, you idiot!" Pidge yelled. "You might be my brother, but he's my brother-in-arms, and that outweighs your position. You hurt him, and I'll make you suffer. So much."

Matt was so dumbfounded that for once he didn't have an instant comeback. He knew that Pidge cared for Shiro, of course he knew, but clearly he hadn't understood how much exactly. It seemed that the bond between the Voltron pilots went deeper than he had realized.

Pidge looked so murderous that Matt thought it best to take her words seriously. Apparently this mattered to her very much, and she was still his little sister, no matter how able she'd become in space.

Matt didn't really like to think about it, but he still remembered the three horrible years he had thought he'd lost not only his only sister but Shiro too. He had never completely given up hope, but as the days went by and his scans never showed a tiniest evidence of Voltron, while the Galra presence never wavered, his spirits had gone down. It had been rough. Getting one call through to his dad and knowing very well that communications between the rebels and the Earth were best to be kept non-existent, well, he had never felt that alone.

For the most of the time, he really didn't remember what he had done. All that he could to save the Universe, to gather more information, to fight for the resistance. N-7 had helped, of course, by being the super optimistic being that she was. Always stopping to see that there was beauty in the Universe despite them being in war.

Still, he had missed them so much.

"Pidgey-poo," he said and raised his hand as Pidge started to object, "I've had a crush on Shiro since I was fifteen. For three years I thought that I'd missed my chances with him because, you know, I thought you were all dead. So I think you really don't have to worry about it."

Pidge looked astonished. They hadn't really talked about it before. But to his surprise, Pidge didn't pick up the 'being dead' part of his rant.

"Since Garrison? But..."

"Yeah, it was hard at first, but he did make Shiro happy, so what was I gonna do about it?" Matt shrugged. "But if I had known that he was gonna dump Shiro, I would've punched him _so hard!_ "

Pidge snorted.

"Yeah, with what muscles? Back then you were scrawnier than me."

"That's true, but I would've come up with a plan! Make an exo-skeleton or something," Matt mused. "But Shiro didn't tell me until we were on the way to Kerberos. Oh man, I was so angry!"

"Maybe he wanted to protect Adam," Pidge said with a glint in her eyes, "or, you know, you."

Mat threw an extra screw at her which she dodged easily. Damn her training.

"Yeah. Still, wouldn't have wanted him to face that end."

"True," Pidge echoed him, looking solemn.

The rest of the afternoon was mostly spent in silence, although Pidge did receive multiple calls during that time. She didn't say much, just scoffed and hummed to something the caller said, but did look pleased after ending the call.

"You have something you wanna tell me, lil sister?" Matt asked, after she ended the third call.

"Stay out of my hair!" Pidge barked, making Matt snigger.

Matt took a hoverbike to the Garrison. It wasn't that far, and the weather was good, so he didn't want to bother with asking for a car. After he parked by the main building, his hair band had almost dropped and was hanging by the thread at the very end of his ponytail. He hastily combed his hair with his fingers, before tying it up again, going for a bun this time. The sun had made him feel warm, and the slight breeze felt good on his bare neck.

The reception desk asked for his ID because he forgot to attach it on the front of his shirt. He apologized, and was allowed in the building without any further delay.

Sam Holt was sitting behind his desk, when Matt knocked his door and entered without waiting for a clearance.

"Matt! Nice to see you!" Sam said, startled by his sudden appearance.

"Hi Dad! Seen Shiro around today?"

Matt wasn't about to beat around bushes. He was on a mission to find Shiro, and since his phone wasn't on, this was the fastest way to do so.

"Yes, of course I have," Sam said, checking the time. "He must be on his way out by now."

"Okay, bye!" Matt opened the door and waved his father goodbye. Sam chuckled and made a hand sign mimicking calling by the phone. Matt didn't ask if he wanted Matt to call him, or if he was suggesting Matt to call Shiro, but he liked the latter one better and dug up his phone to try calling again.

He walked towards the officer building while waiting for Shiro to pick up. He was by his door before it happened, so while he ended the call, he was already knocking on the door.

"It's me, Matt!"

It took a couple of minutes, before Matt heard Shiro walk to the door.

"Who's there?"

"Mathematics Holt. Open up, man!"

Matt waited a few seconds more, wondering what the delay was all about, but as Shiro opened the door, he could see the reason with his own eyes.

Shiro was wearing only towel wrapped around his hips, and his dripping wet hair was slicked back. He looked weird, but Matt didn't really spend time looking at his face while–

"Holy shit!" Matt bursted out.

Of course Matt had seen Shiro almost naked before, once even full naked, albeit only from behind, but it was a sight he couldn't forget even if he wanted to. And he definitely didn't want to. But in addition to seeing all Shiro's glorious physique up close and personal, Matt was shocked to see all the scars criss-crossing his body.

Matt didn't realize he'd clapped his hand on his mouth until after he'd uttered some nonsense that came out muffled. On some level, he knew that Shiro had been fighting on Arena for months, but it was a whole other thing to see the marks from that time period on first hand. He started to count the scars without knowing it, but had to stop after getting to twenty because it was too much. Not that they made the view any less appreciated but for what they represented. The whole year of Shiro's life that had been stolen by the Galra was splayed right in front of Matt, and it made him sick.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to shock you. Hold on, I'll put something on," Shiro said after a few seconds of silence. His cheeks were burning, and Matt felt like he had to say something right here and now to clear up the mess he had just made.

"You're beautiful," Matt sighed, because he had no filter.

"Umm, what?" Shiro furrowed his brow, clearly not understanding what Matt was going for.

Matt stepped in, closing the door behind him. His eyes flickered at Shiro's, but he was too busy taking in the rest of his body, charting the new expansions he had not been around to see grow and be marred. He lifted his hand but didn't touch, kind of let his hand hover next to Shiro's abdomen, his chest, just trying to understand it all.

"Hey, wait a minute! If this is the clone body, how come it has the scars from the Arena?" Matt asked suddenly as the thought popped in his head.

"I don't know," Shiro shrugged. "I guess, the druids kept updating their 3D model of me as the time passed."

"Well, that's... that's something," Matt mumbled, still staring at the scars.

Then he noticed that Shiro had detached his new arm, the socket and all. The stump on his right side had more scars in it than all the others combined. There were still indentations around it from where the socket was pressing on his flesh.

"Does it hurt when you wear the receptacle for the arm?" Matt asked, ever the scientist. "I mean, it must be much lighter than the old one."

"No, it doesn't hurt. I mean, I can feel it more after a long day but I just don't like to wear it when I'm in the shower."

"It's not gonna rust," Matt pointed out.

"I know, it's just more comfortable to shower without it, it's a foreign object after all," Shiro combed his hair with his fingers. It had dried a little during Matt's ogling, so now his front locks lay limply on his forehead, and he swept them to the side.

"Sounds about right to me," Matt granted. "But man, I'm so sorry about what those bastards did to you. Nobody deserves that, least of all you."

"Yeah, well, what's done is done," Shiro said and there was finality in his words. Matt let it drop for now.

"Well, get ready so that we can get going," he urged Shiro, pushing him towards the bathroom, not enjoying his hands on Shiro's bare skin.

"What?" Shiro was baffled but let Matt guide him back to the bathroom. He closed the door almost all the way to have some privacy and to be able to hear Matt's voice.

"I don't know yet, but I'll figure something out," Matt said truthfully. Because he had no idea, but he was confident of his quick thinking.

Shiro emerged after a couple of minutes, clean shaven, he's prosthesis on the place, the arm piece hovering besides him. He was wearing only a pair of black boxer shorts that Matt didn't dare to look at too closely, and a tank top that showed off his arms so perfectly Matt wanted to cry. Instead of ogling more, he busied himself with Shiro's antique dog tags, jingling them in his fingers.

"You still carry these around your neck?"

"Sure thing."

The answer was short and to the point. And Matt had to respect that. The tags were something that was a part of Shiro's persona. He'd never asked who the tags belong to.

"So, whose tags are they, anyway?"

Shiro turned around, his fingers glistening of whatever hair product he had just used, still poking his fluffy fringe. He looked at the tags in Matt's hands.

"They were my grandfather's. They used the tags back then, well, used them in some places, I guess. I'm not sure when the chip overruled the tags here in the States."

"Man, that was over a hundred years ago! How old is your granddad?" Matt whistled.

"Well, he passed on when I was just a kid," Shiro explained. "We already lived here with my parents, but my grandma gave me the tags at his funeral. She said that Pap wanted me to have them. I guess because I wanted to become a pilot even then."

Matt was startled.

"You never mention your parents."

"Well, they are dead now," Shiro shrugged, turning around, but Matt could see his shoulders tense up. "Just like my grandma."

"Oh, man, I'm sorry," Matt sighed.

He wanted to go and hug Shiro, so he did that, wrapping his arms around his waist, pressing his cheek against his back and just stood there, linking his fingers on top of Shiro's navel.

"You never talk about your family," Matt said to Shiro's skin. "But I've never asked. So I'm sorry. The one thing I don't prattle on about, and it ends up being important."

"It's okay, Matt," Shiro said awkwardly, patting Matt's hands. "My parents had been dead for several years before we met, and my grandma passed away peacefully before the Galra invasion, so I guess it was sort of a lucky time for her to go."

"But not for you, dude, not for you," Matt said.

"Yeah, well, that's life."

They were silent for a while. Matt was so close to Shiro that he had to time his breaths accordingly, so when Shiro breathed in, Matt breathed out. And as he breathed in, he could smell the fragrant of the bodys wash Shiro had used. It was not pleasant, too musky for Shiro, but fortunately it wasn't very potent anymore, now that his skin had cooled off.

Matt started to think how weird they must have looked, him fully clothed, hugging a half-naked Shiro from behind.

"Is it getting too weird? It's getting too weird," Matt burst out, releasing Shiro from his hold.

"Yeah, maybe a little bit," Shiro chuckled, glancing over his shoulder. He was smiling, but Matt could swear there were tears in his eyes.

"That's my motto; make everything weird until it gets better!"

"That's not your motto," Shiro chided him getting some clothes off the drawer.

"Oh yeah? Well, what's my motto then?" Matt scoffed.

"I'll let you know," Shiro answered, a smile tugging the corner of his mouth while he was buttoning up his pants. "So, what did you have in mind?"

"Huh?" Matt breathed, perplexed by Shiro's robot fingers tugging on the belt. He'd seen it already, naturally, but hadn't had a chance to examine it more closely. Maybe later.

"I mean, did you have something to tell me, or...?" Shiro waved his hand to catch Matt's attention. His cheeks were blushed, but Matt couldn't tell if it was because of the recent shower or for other reasons. Like him basically staring at his crotch.

"Yes! Well, actually, I wanted to take you somewhere!"

"Oh?"

"So, take get your coat because according the forecast, it's gonna be a cold night," Matt ordered.

 

After a short ride with their hoverbikes, Matt stopped by the curve, motioning Shiro to park behind him. The streets were unusually crowded for a weekday night, but Matt hadn't really been out since they defeated the Galra, so he couldn't tell, what the new norm was. Some of the passers-by were aliens, so maybe they counted for the extra.

"Just leave it there, it's fine," he told Shiro. "Come on, I'm starving!"

Shior jogged after Matt, crossing the street far more carefully than Matt had done, looking at both directions before going, and after a short walk, they were in front of a...

"You brought me to Sforno?" Shiro asked, looking like he needed an explanation.

"Sure! Best pizza in town, what's not to like?"

"No, I mean, I haven't been here since–"

"Since we came here as cadets, yeah, I remember. Why do you think I chose this place?" Matt sniggered.

"For the best pizza in town?" Shiro laughed.

"Touche, my friend, touche. Now, shut up and get in," Matt said, rolling his eyes.

The pizzeria was as cozy as Matt remembered. It must have been at least ten years, since he last set foot in the place, but he still remembered at least some of the details. The checkered tablecloths, the fake fireplace with too loud sound effects to even pretend to be real fire, even the guy who came to greet them looked somewhat familiar.

"Buongiorno! Welcome to Sforno! Please, have a seat!" The man said with an accent. He sounded authentic but despite his Italian roots, Matt couldn't speak the language, so he had to take it by the face value.

Matt found them a table which had a basket of bread sticks in it. He picked one and started gnawing it immediately after sitting down. It took only a moment, before a waiter came to take their orders.

"What can I get you?"

"I'll have... Pizza Napoli," Matt declared, looking at Shiro who grimaced. "What? I like anchovies!"

"Yeah, and it's disgusting," Shiro grinned. "Pizza Prosciutto for me, please."

"Excellent, gentlemen! It'll only be a moment."

"How on earth did you remember this place?" Shiro wondered aloud after the waiter went with their order. He was looking around amazed.

"I keep tabs on the excellent food serving places, naturally," Matt said sounding mockingly modest. "Nah, I just happened to browse some old pictures the other day and stumbled on the one we took here."

"You, me, and Adam," Shiro said wistfully, staring at the flickering fake flames. "Yeah, I remember."

"It was your birthday. We had a cake and everything."

"We had a single cupcake, and you almost set the curtains on fire while lighting the candle, because it was too large for the cupcake."

"Well, I couldn't use a tiny candle, could I? It was your 20th birthday, so the candle had to have some _girth!_ "

Shiro snorted, finally glancing at Matt. He didn't seem sad, not really, maybe a bit melancholic. But Matt was adamant in thinking that he just needed some good memories to mix up with the old not so good ones. And if he was the one to make that happen, it was fine by him. It wasn't like spending time with Shiro was unpleasant. Actually, it was the opposite, and Matt had to remind himself that this time he was going to show how he felt, not just sit on it. This time, it was going to be Matt who Shiro ended up with, he was certain of it. Even if it would take some time, Shiro was more than worth it.

The food was as excellent as Matt remembered. The best part of having anchovies on his pizza was the wince Shiro made every time Matt dug out one and ate it separately. Because after munching the treat loudly, slurping with gusto and making a real show out of it, the corners of Shiro's mouth were pointing up, not down. And that was the point of the whole evening, if someone would have asked Matt about it.

After feeding their bellies, they took a stroll around the block. There was a nice park across the street, but Matt didn't want to go there. It wasn't that time yet. The park was the one Shiro and Adam used to play Frisbee during the summer they'd spent together, and Matt didn't think Shiro was ready for that yet. Instead, he hopped on a bridge railing and sat there, while Shiro leaned on it, admiring the view from the bridge.

"I could hop over and pretend to be drowning, if you wanted to play rescue," Matt suggested half serious. He was pretty sure he could swim to the shore.

"Don't even think about it," Shiro warned. He grabbed Matt's wrist and held to it without looking at him.

Matt held his breath for a while. He wasn't 100 % sure how to go about this, but then again, he never was. He'd just have to wing it, like always. 

"Sooo, you come here often?"

That caught Shiro by surprise, and he snorted, followed by a full belly laugh that was bubbling out so freely, it made Matt's toes tingle. He smiled wide, enjoying the mirth in Shiro's eyes. He wanted so much to kiss him, even touch him, but he wasn't sure if it was a good idea. This was practically their first date, although neither of them had called it that.

Just a boys' night out, like always.

Matt wasn't jealous of Adam, had never been. Adam was a good apple and he made Shiro happy. Matt had accepted that after realizing he had never let Shiro know how he felt about him. Well, how could he have, being the small nerdy boy in the company of two living legends? Of course, he had earned his place at the Garrison, same as the others, and done so two years in advance because, let's face it, he was a prodigy. But even though learning had always been easy fun for him, social interactions, well, not so much. He made friends, sure, but other than that, he'd never find a right way to tell anyone. Not before getting a new start with the rebels. Well, not so much getting as being forced to, but they had been good to him.

Especially N-7.

Nevertheless, Matt had never given up hope to see Shiro again. He knew he was a fighter, a survivor. The only thing he hadn't seen beforehand was the fact that Shiro had actually died. That wasn't something Matt wanted to think about right at that moment, so he concentrated on Shiro's fingers resting on his pulse.

And then his heart started to race, because Shiro's fingers slid a bit lower.

"I'm not gonna jump, really," Matt said seriously, slipping his hand from Shiro's grasp. "Or push you over," Matt added as an afterthought.

Shiro snorted to the words, and shook his head.

"You're unbelievable, Holt."

"That I am, Shirogane, that I am."

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

The alarm came off, like it always did, at 6 am but Shiro hadn't slept for more than a wink. It felt like he had sand in his eyes, and for the first time in a long time, he was tempted to skip his morning jog. It wasn't like he had to keep his body in the physical peak any longer. He could afford to slack off once in a while. His muscles weren't going to wither away the second he turned his back.

He could try to sleep in this one time.

A minute passed, then Shiro sighed and sat up, put on some clothes and went out for a run.

Later that day, Shiro had just finished off greeting the young cadets and giving his motivational speech as he walked briskly along the corridor and heard someone calling him from a class room. He stopped and peeked in the room.

"Shiro! Come in for a moment, won't you?" Sam Holt urged.

"Good day, sir," Shiro greeted him, nodding slightly.

"Yes, good day to you too!" Sam said, stepping closer and holding out his hand.

Shiro shook the hand, smiling at Sam. They hadn't seen each other for a few days.

"How did it go with the younglings?" Sam asked.

"Oh, you know, they pretended to listen but I'll bet that they forget every word by tomorrow," Shiro chuckled.

"Yes, I'm sure that's true. Goes well with the tradition too, because I'd bet you didn't remember a thing I said either, when you were a cadet," Sam said, winking at Shiro.

Shiro looked a bit sheepish. He had been busy checking out the cute cadet standing next to him. The cute cadet who, although Shiro didn't know this at the time, was the son of the then commander Sam Holt.

"So, we're having a family dinner on Sunday and Colleen asked me to remind you that you are always welcome," Sam said, after a beat.

Shiro hadn't visited the Holts in months, and was instantly feeling uncomfortable standing there under Commander Holts eyes. It wasn't that he didn't want to see the Holts, but more like he didn't feel like he belong. It was hard for him to play a gracious guest if the only thing he wanted was to go home and be alone. And it had been so easy earlier with the invitation always being there, a possibility for him to go and spend time with the Holts but not obligated in any way.

Now, it seemed that Sam Holt was waiting for an answer.

"Uh, thank you sir," Shiro said, and that was the only thing he had time to say before Matt barged in to the classroom and slammed his hand on Shiro's shoulder.

"Dad. Shiro," Matt greeted with an excited voice. Then he looked at the two men more closely and lifted his eyebrow at his dad. "What up?"

"Hello, Matt. I was just inviting Shiro to the Sunday dinner. What are you doing here?"

"Oh," Matt said, glancing at Shiro. His hand squeezed Shiro's shoulder with more force for a second. "We'll see if we have time to come on Sunday, we might have other plans."

"Oh?" Shiro said, surprised. This was the first time he heard about plans for next Sunday.

"Yes. _Secret_ plans," Matt said firmly, winking at Shiro.

Sam chuckled while Shiro felt blush rise on his cheeks. Damn. He just couldn't control his bodily functions while a certain Holt was nearby.

"Okay, son," Sam said jovially, grabbing his pad from the table. "I'll let your mom know. I still hope to see you two, but I won't be waiting with a baited breath, then."

Sam nodded, and walked out the room. Shiro turned to Matt.

"What do you have in mind for Sunday? You didn't tell me about any plans earlier."

"I know! Isn't that funny, I guess my reputation as a filterless motor mouth is ruined."

"So... you don't have any plans, I take it?" Shiro asked after a beat, not bothering to acknowledge Matt's possible reputation or the lack of it.

"I'm sure I'll figure something out," Matt laughed. "It's only Friday."

"Yeah, sure, no doubt about it," Shiro rolled his eyes.

It felt weird that Matt would know him that well, to see the situation in merely a second and act so easily to dissolve it. He didn't know exactly how he should feel about it. Should he be angry that Matt had made promises on his behalf? Or, rather, gotten him out of going to the dinner without asking? Or should he be grateful that Matt had the foresight to act on his behalf because somehow Matt had seen how difficult it would have been for him to decline the invitation. Or even worse, accept it.

"Okay then, ready to leave?" Matt nudged Shiro's ribs with his elbow.

"Leave where?" Shiro asked, still deep in his thoughts.

"Well, it's Friday and you're young and I'm young and there's no work tomorrow, well, I might have to pop in the lab at some point, but no way I'm doing it until maybe after like 4 pm, so anyway, you coming?"

"Where are we going?" Shiro asked as Matt simply grabbed his floating arm and walked out of the room. Shiro didn't care to test what would happen if he just stayed put, although if it would lead to a situation where his arm would bounce back and bring a yelping Matt with it, it might be worth a try.

"Well. Keith and Lance are having a movie night, so I told them that we'd come too," Matt explained, gesturing with Shiro's arm like a conductor.

"I'm not sure..." Shiro started to say, almost automatically, but then he thought of spending time together with the others, like they used to in the Castle of Lions with Allura and Coran, but this time, there would be no impending doom looming over their heads.

"Yeah, they tell me you haven't seen them in a couple of weeks. Keith doesn't remember what you look like anymore."

Shiro gave Matt a look.

"True story! Well, at least it was a true story by Lance."

"Oh god, what did I sign up for," Shiro groaned. But he couldn't help but feel excited for the night.

The movie night was in Keith and Lance's apartment. As usual, Hunk had made plenty of snacks for everyone, but surprisingly Keith had helped him. And if Lance's astonishment was any kind of indicator, this wasn't usual at all. To be honest, Shiro didn't remember a single time he'd seen Keith making dinner, other than ripping open a bag of something to toss it in a bowl with boiling water and stirring enough to make an edible concoction out of it.

"Yeah, Hunk's been helping me out," Keith said, after Shiro asked about his new hobby.

"Keith's a natural!" Hunk exclaimed, beaming at Keith. "I mean, sure, I had to show him stuff and maybe we did burn something a couple of times, but other than that, it's been so great to have someone to cook with!"

Shiro glanced at Keith, then at Hunk, and tried to wrap his head around the fact that the boy he'd seen grow from an insolent teen who lived by eating only fast food had the discipline to actually make a meal out of _ingredients_.

"Well, you've finally beaten my records, Keith," Shiro chuckled, after tasting the cookie that was, by Hunks excited declaration, _made by Keith and Keith alone!_ "You know I can't cook to save my life."

"Amen to that," Matt said from the other end of the couch, where he'd laid down and buried his toes between Shiro's back and the upholstery.

"Never too late to learn, old man," Keith grinned, popping a cookie in his mouth and handing another to Lance, who took it by sinking his teeth into it. "Hey, watch it!"

"Babe, I'd never bite you," Lance mumbled, his mouth full of cookie. "Unless you'd want me to," he added, trying to sound sultry but ending up coughing because he inhaled some of the cookie crumbs.

Keith hit the back of his head against Lance's diaphragm.

"Thanks, babe," Lance said, after he finished coughing up his lungs.

"So, how's the living now that you're here together, just the two of you?" Shiro asked.

It was a new arrangement. But after Shiro did the math, he realized that Keith and Lance had been living together for over two months already. They had hooked up during the war, everyone had been aware about it because neither of them could keep their eyes turned away from each other for a second. Shiro was still amazed they'd won the war, what with two of the paladins shagging all the time in every single closet they could find. But of course he knew the deal. They could all have died the very next day. There was no point in waiting around.

Still, the boys had continued to see each other even after the Galra force was decimated and there was no impending doom anymore. Shiro knew that they had gone for their first date the very next day after the celebration banquet.

And apparently, the date had gone well.

"Well, you know how it is to live with Keith, dirty socks everywhere, horrible music blasting out night and day," Lance ranted until Keith took his foot and tickled it. The rest of Lance's words were swallowed by his giggling which turned into full belly laughing as Keith's tickling reached the back of Lance's knee.

Keith's scowl was still in place even after Lance had been reduced to a groaning, wheezing puddle.

"So, everything's great!" Matt said enthusiastically, smacking his hands together. "Let's get on with the movie night, alright? What did you pick?"

Matt's words were directed to Pidge and Hunk, who were still standing by the couch. Pidge took her pad from the bag and typed something in. The big screen started to show the opening credits of the new horror movie "Bleeding Venom".

"Awesome! I haven't seen it yet," Matt yelled, sitting up and scooching over next to Shiro to make room for Hunk and Pidge. "You don't mind, do you? I can hold your hand when it gets scary."

Shiro chuckled and wrapped his arm around Matt, not even thinking about it. It felt as natural as breathing. And by the time the movie had rolled for less than ten minutes, Matt was already leaning against Shiro, his head on his shoulder, and Shiro had to remind himself that this was not the time or place to kiss Matt's hair. He wanted to, though, so so much.

After three hours, including two pee breaks and a short call from Shay to Hunk which had been adorable to listen to, Shiro was almost asleep.

"You okay, big guy?" Matt asked, nudging gently at Shiro's ribs.

"Mmm, yeah. Tired, I guess."

"It's past your bedtime," Matt said, pulling him up and grabbing Shiro's hands. "Upsy-daisy!"

Shiro was surprised how easily Matt was able to pull him up. And when Matt had to wrap his arms around him to steady his wobbly steps, Shiro didn't complain. He took a whiff at Matt's hair that was sticking in every direction, kind of tickling his nose, and it smelt like home.

He fell asleep again in the car on their drive back. Matt put on a playlist that had only slow ballads about moon and stars on it, and it was so calming that Shiro couldn't help but to close his eyes for a bit. He didn't wake up before Matt licked his hand.

"What the–" Shiro yelled, startled by the strange wetness on his hand.

"That, O Great Leader, was me telling you to get out because Eagle One has landed," Matt said, sniggering probably at Shiro's surprised face.

Shiro looked around, blinking his tired eyes. They were at the Garrison but not at the parking lot. Instead, Matt had driven the hovercar directly in front of the Captain's Quarters and had parked so close to the door that Shiro was unsure if he could fit out of the car.

"Nice parking skills," he commented dryly, glancing at Matt.

"You'll fit, just summon the ameba from within!"

Matt got out of the door on his side, leaving Shiro to unbuckle and figure his way out. By the time he had jimmied his body out, Matt was leaning to the wall beside the building door, grinning widely.

"Nothing to wake you up better than some late night yoga," he said, laughing at the scowl on Shiro's face. "Now let's get you inside so that I can tuck you in for the night."

Shiro rolled his eyes.

"I think I can manage now."

"Nu uh. Leave no man behind," Matt declared, snatching the ID from Shiro's hand as soon as he dug it out of his pocket.

Matt swiped the door open, then grabbed Shiro's hand and dragged him inside. He didn't let go of the hand even then, and it felt nice and warm against Shiro's skin, so he played along, walking a half a step behind Matt. He didn't pay attention on where they were going, letting Matt take the lead, instead he focused on staring at Matt. He had a messy braid that Shiro didn't remember seeing at Keith and Lance's so he must have done it before they got in the car. At least Shiro hoped that Matt had done it _before_ starting the car, although he wouldn't be surprised if he had steered the wheel with his knees and just braided his hair while driving.

He had the usual baggy jeans and a hoodie that was something like burnt orange. The color reminded Shiro of the cadet uniforms and brought back a tide of memories. Except that instead of the tight uniform, the stretched out collar of the hoodie exposed a lot of Matt's neck, and Shiro could see a few freckles sprinkled on the side of his trapezius. He had to swallow and look the other way so that he wouldn't have stumbled and fallen down. Or maybe ducked down to kiss Matt's neck. And neither of those scenarios felt possible right now.

"Okay, get in there, big guy," Matt stopped at Shiro's door, opened it and tried to push him in. Shiro didn't budge.

"Matt."

"What? Now you stopped following the orders? What is this, mutiny?"

"Matt, just. Shut up for a second!" Shiro laughed, putting his hand on Matt's shoulder, feeling the bare skin against his thumb.

"Shutting up," Matt said, taking a deep breath.

Shiro was pretty sure he wasn't supposed to notice, but he did feel Matt suppress a full body shiver, and he wondered if it was because half of his hand was touching Matt's exposed neck. He would have liked to cause that kind of reaction and now he needed more proof.

"Thank you for dragging me out tonight," Shiro said, gently moving his thumb a bit, trying to feel the freckles he knew were there. But instead of the freckles, he felt Matt shudder again, and this time, his blink lasted longer, almost like he wanted to close his eyes but fought against it.

"Someone's gotta take you out every now and then, Shirogane," Matt said shakily. "By the way, I know you know what you're doing to me, so you better follow it up."

Shiro laughed, pulling Matt closer and hugging him tight.

"I'm sorry, it's just so weird seeing you stumble in your words," Shiro confessed.

Matt retaliated by squeezing Shiro's butt, which made him let out a sound that someone could have called squeak. Shiro cleared his throat and stepped back.

"Yeah, well, I deserved that, I think," he said sheepishly, smiling at Matt. "But seriously, thanks."

"Anytime, Shirogane," Matt grinned, grabbing Shiro's hand and kissing his knuckles. "Sleep tight."

There was a warm feeling spreading from Shiro's hand, through his arm, to his whole body. The feeling of Matt's lips lingered on his knuckles even after the man himself had walked off, waving his hand as he turned around the corner.

It had happened so subtly, in spite of Matt's not so subtle way of forcing him back to life again. What Allura had started by guiding his spirit, his _being_ inside the body of his clone, felt somehow finished now that he had Matt in his life again.

He had a purpose once more, a reason to wake up in the morning.

Not that he had harbored some dark thoughts about the reason for living, but until the last few days after the huge clash with the Galra empire, after winning, Shiro had felt empty. Like the fight had emptied his quintessence and left him hollow, just scraping to get by.

It wasn't so far fetched, Shiro realized the more he thought about it. He had been given a second chance twice already, and while his purpose for the war efforts had been clear, he had never thought of growing old, what with the muscle sickness gnawing him from within and stealing the majority of his life.

But now, he wanted to grow old. He wanted to see what else the world had to offer. He wanted to see more.

And most of all, he wanted to do all that with Matt beside him.

Shiro yawned, realizing that it really was past his bedtime. He got in and readied himself for the bed, his movements a bit more sluggish than they normally were. But even while brushing his teeth and grabbing a fresh pair of pajama bottoms, he was thinking of Matt and his amazing energy, the sheer force of will that he'd shown by escaping the Galra prison and finding his way to help the rebel forces. The same stubbornness that Shiro should have expected, after seeing what Pidge could do when she had a clear goal in her mind.

He laid down on the bed, pulling the blanket to his chin and pressed his lips on his knuckles, at the same spot Matt had kissed.

"Goodnight, Matt," Shiro whispered, not even caring if he was acting like a lovesick teenager.

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

Matt had a problem. And every time Matt had a problem, there was a scared pencil somewhere near him. Because when Matt tried to find a solution to the problem, he liked to gnaw a pencil. And the poor thing hardly ever got out of it alive. As much as pencils were alive in the first place.

Matt's problem was the following; how to get Shiro to come to the Holt Sunday dinner.

Usually, when Matt had a problem, he liked to treat it scientifically. First, forming a question. The question was, how to make Shiro come to the Holt Sunday dinner, obviously. The next step was doing the background research but Matt was confident enough to skip that step. He had over ten years of experience of Takashi Shirogane, and even more years of quite extensive experience on his own family.

So, his hypothesis was: Shiro attends the Holt Sunday dinner.

The experiment was going to be tough; he didn't have much room to make mistakes. He had been collecting fresh data for the last weeks, but he felt like he needed more hands-on experience of the matter. A lot of hands-on experience.

Matt sighed aloud. He was really putting the sigh in sigh-ence.

It wasn't like he only wanted Shiro for his body, but he had been dreaming of getting his hands on Shiro's naked body for so many years already, so maybe he could give himself a slack and just spend a few minutes dreaming of just that. It wouldn't hurt anyone, right?

So, the hypothesis could wait a bit while he remembered exactly how Shiro had looked wearing only the towel. Matt sailed straight through the fact that he had freaked out by the amount of scars Shiro had collected during his captivity and concentrated instead on the marvel that was Shiro's pecs, well, you could really call them breasts because they were _huge_. Matt was sure, it would feel awesome to–

"There you are, son!"

The door to Matt's lab opened, and his dad was standing in the doorway.

"Dad! Hi! Umm, uh, do you need something?"

Sam looked at Matt curiously, looking also around the room, like he was expecting to find someone else there, too. At 8 p.m. on a Saturday evening. While Matt was looking like a deer in the headlights.

"Do _you_ need something?" Sam asked instead of answering.

"What? No! No, thanks, I'm good. Just about to wrap up and head home!" Matt said very fast, shuffling the stack of pads in front of him, snatching a couple of them randomly and stuffing them in his bag.

"Oh, okay," Sam said, smiling. "I hope to see you tomorrow at dinner, son."

"Sure, sure, sure, sure, sure," Matt said rapidly, nodding his head.

"And bring Shiro, too", Sam said, then winked, and closed the door.

Matt winced. He felt like he was twelve again, and Dad had found a skin mag in his sock drawer. He would never dare to get anything online, but he had thought that maybe if he went for unconventional methods, he wouldn't get caught. Well, the plan had failed spectacularly, and while his dad hadn't taken the magazine, just the half an hour lecture of safe sex and the importance of lube he'd gotten had put him off of the magazine. For the rest of his life, really.

Not that he was– that he was about to– not that this situation was in any way similar to that situation. Nope. Matt just _felt_ like he'd been interrupted, like Dad would have seen what he was thinking of. His most private thoughts.

Of course he wasn't twelve now, so maybe it was okay to have that kind of thoughts? And now that he thought of it, maybe his dad could actually help? Matt winced again. Maybe Mom would be a better bet. He was pretty sure it was her who had been the one to make sure she ended up with Dad, not the other way around. In fact, Matt was pretty sure that if the whole matter had been left to Dad, he wouldn't have born at all.

Another fact was that Matt was his father's son. But maybe, just maybe, he could be his mother's son too?

"So, Mom," Matt barged in Colleen's office without knocking the very next day after finishing in the lab. She had started teaching again after Dad had returned to Earth. She wasn't going to retire before Dad was.

"Matthew Copernicus Holt, I have taught you better than that!" Colleen snapped but didn't look up from the paper she was apparently grading, or maybe coloring with her red pen, Matt couldn't be sure.

"Sorry, sorry, I'm in a hurry," Matt explained, closing the door and slumping in the chair in front of his mom's desk. He took a peek at the paper she was grading and sniggered.

"Oh man, that is not how the Carnot cycle works, like, at all."

"I know! Did they sleep through the whole course? They don't even seem to understand the difference between isothermal and isentropic expansion," Colleen laughed jovially.

"What a dummy," Matt shook his head, staring fondly at the paper, remembering the simpler times.

"You know, you could have interrupted me in something more important, barging in like that without knocking," Colleen said, finally pushing the paper aside and looking at Matt.

"Well, in that case, you should've locked the door," Matt said cheekily.

"That's your father's job whenever he visits," Colleen said sweetly, smiling at Matt.

"Oh, for the love of– Mom! Oh god, now I'm scarred for life!" Matt wailed, slamming his hands over his ears.

"Teaches you to knock before coming to my office," Colleen chuckled. "So, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

Matt took his time arranging the paperclips on the desk in a perfect rectangle, before answering the question. He wasn't so sure anymore if this was a good idea. After all, he knew what he was supposed to do but, well, he just didn't know how. Or when. Mostly when. The 'how' part usually just happened, somehow.

"Well, Mom," Matt started, blushing a little. "You know Shiro, right?"

"Yeeees, I know Shiro fairly well, I'd say," Colleen answered. Matt was pretty sure, she was holding back laughter.

"Right. Of course you do. Yes."

"So, you have a question about Shiro," Colleen said, after a lengthened silence.

"Well, yes. Oh wait, no, not really. It's more like, about me with respect to Shiro. Or the other way around, maybe," Matt prattled on. "Oh god, I'm really asking for a dating advice from _my mother!_ "

"You're dating?" Colleen exclaimed enthusiastically.

"NO! I mean, no, well, not yet. At least, I hope not yet. I mean, no, we're not dating but I'd hope to date him anytime soon," Matt tried to explain. He was probably red as a beetroot by now, judging by the heat on his cheeks.

"So, you want to date Shiro but you don't know how?" Colleen double checked. "You remember the time when you were about ten, and we had that talk about birds and the bees?"

"Mom!" Matt groaned, dropping his head on the desk. "Please, this is hard enough without you teasing me."

"Oh, Matthew, I'm not trying to tease you. I just don't see the problem! Maybe if you explained it to me, I could help you?"

Matt drew a long breath. It was Mom. He could say anything to his mom. It was his prerogative as a son, to be as stupid and helpless as possible.

"I. Do. Not. Know. How. To. Ask. Shiro. Out," Matt bit out. "Like on a date, I mean. I ask him out all the time, but I don't know if he understands that it's a date. I mean, how did you ask Dad out?"

Colleen took Matt's hand and held it for a while.

"I just did. Just like that, asked him out," she said. "'Sam, will you go out with me?' And then he said yes, well, stammered, really. It was pretty funny."

"Yeah, I'll bet," Matt sighed.

"Not that it will be funny when you do that," Colleen said as an afterthought.

"Yeah, sure," Matt sighed even harder.

"Oh, come now. You might be your father's son, but you are also my son. And my son knows his way around boys."

Matt felt a little bit better after the talk. It wasn't like he was unable to speak, in fact, some people might say that he was too capable of speaking. Some might even say he should speak much less than he normally did. And they usually said it right at his face. But the biggest problem was that he didn't know exactly _when_ to speak.

He got coffee and sandwich from the mercifully empty cafeteria and ate a late dinner while planning his move.

"Well, never better time than now, I guess," Matt said to himself while getting up, and headed towards Shiro's quarters.

The Garrison was silent. Matt saw only the regular patrols doing their usual rounds and greeted them as he went by. The corridor leading to Shiro's room was deserted. That was a bit odd. There were at least ten doors to various private quarters along the corridor and usually, at least one of the residents either left or arrived while Matt was walking by the doors.

This time, nobody appeared. No sounds could be heard, other than Matt's own footsteps.

He furrowed his brow and knocked on Shiro's door. He waited for a moment, then knocked again. Nobody answered.

He dug out his phone and called Shiro. No answer.

Just as he was about to hack his way inside Shiro's room, certain that the aliens had invaded the whole garrison and teleported all the personnel out, he heard someone calling him from the other end of the hallway.

"Yo, Holt!"

Matt turned around and peered at the officer standing by the door.

"It's all empty, you know? There's that ceremony going on in the main building," the officer yelled. "I thought it was mandatory to upper personnel?"

There was an accusatory note in his voice, and Matt rolled his eyes. No shit, Sherlock. But even if it was mandatory, it didn't mean that _he_ had to be there. Although in this case, Matt wanted to be there, but he'd need a uniform to do that.

The officer saluted and disappeared through the door, leaving Matt standing alone again.

Matt pinged up his holo screen and proceeded with his flimsy plan. Surely Shiro had some older and smaller uniforms lying about that he could borrow for one night?

The door gave up almost too easily, and Matt made a mental note to go through the Garrison security. This was unacceptable. Someone could easily break in to their rooms and labs and who knows where! And that someone might not be as benevolent as Matt. Matt would only break in when it was absolutely necessary, not for any other reason.

"Okay, let's see what's in _your_ sock drawer, Shirogane."

In Shiro's sock drawer was, amazingly, socks and nothing else. Matt was disappointed for the lack of embarrassing things hidden behind the neatly folded pairs of socks, but he proceeded with the plan and took one pair, pulling his own orange socks off while balancing on one foot.

Inside Shiro's cabinet, there were several uniforms in a row, all pressed and clean, and even the buttons looked polished. Matt tsked aloud and pulled one of them off the hanger.

As he pulled the pants on, he was surprised how well they fitted. They didn't look as good as they did when Shiro wore them, but Matt wasn't blind and he knew very well that nothing he ever wore was going to look as good as it did on Shiro. He had to tighten the pants with the belt, but the length was nearly right.

The jacket ended up being more problematic. Shiro had much wider shoulders than Matt, so the jacket sagged a bit, but Matt was optimistic that nobody would notice. It was important that he had the uniform on, right? Nobody would look at him too closely, so the little details weren't so important.

Just as Matt was about to leave, he noticed a small book on the nightstand. He stopped in between two steps, hovering by the door. The indecision was tearing him apart because on one hand, he wanted to see Shiro, and the banquet was a way to go, but on the other hand, his curiosity was killing him. Maybe if he took just a little peek? If Shiro was here, he'd hand him the book. Why wouldn't he?

Matt hopped on the bed and grabbed the book and noticed only then, that it wasn't a real book. Well, it kind of was, yes, but at the same time, it was full of pictures. At some point, Shiro had apparently printed out some of the photos he'd taken during their time at the Garrison, before the war, before Kerberos, and made them into a book.

Matt was astounded.

He hadn't seen a real printed photo in years, if you didn't count the ones his parents had on the mantelpiece. And he didn't count them because he didn't even notice them anymore. They were white noise, with the pale kids in their bathing suits under a huge umbrella so that they wouldn't get any more freckles that they already had. He and Pidge.

But this book, it was full of pictures of Adam and Shiro and even Matt.

Matt browsed through the thick pages, reliving the memories the photos woke inside him. There was one picture where he and Adam were both grabbing a single game controller. They'd been fighting over who got to go next and try to beat Shiro's record on GTHXV. A couple weeks later, Shiro had bought them another controller, just to be able to multiplay with all the three of them at once.

There was another picture, taken when Adam and Shiro had just started dating. They were holding hands, coming in Shiro and Matt's room. Matt remembered taking the picture in moments notice. He was trying to surprise Shiro but had realized at the last second that he wasn't alone. He had heard the key card beeping, and just grabbed his phone and took the photo. It was an adorable picture, showing flustered but smiling Shiro, and Adam laughing with his eyes scrunched.

Matt sighed, staring at Adam. Sure, they had many things they didn't agree on, and maybe Matt had wanted to punch Adam for being a dork, but he still missed him. Adam was his go-to whenever he had a prank to pull. Shiro was usually pulled into their scheming and also the one who put an end to their most ridiculous plans, like dyeing the water with red food color and pulling the fire alarm and raining red over everyone.

At least, Shiro had been okay with the plan to put glitter on their locker doors, even though they had ended up sparkling from head to toe. It was amazing, really, that they hadn't got caught that time.

The door slid open and Matt, startled by the sound, dropped the album on the floor.

"Matt? What are you doing here?"

It was Shiro, of course it was Shiro. Matt had never seen Shiro lose his temper, other than that one time in a different life while wearing prisoner onesies, but he looked pretty pissed right now.

"Umm, I can explain?" Matt said, and it came out more like a question.

Shiro closed the door and crossed his arms on his chest. Matt could _feel_ Shiro's eyebrows shoot up, even though his expression stayed pretty neutral.

"Well, I forgot about the banquet, and while I was behind your door, I thought that I'd borrow your spare uniform, you know, to look professional and shit," Matt started with the truth.

Shiro's eyes traveled slowly up and down Matt's body, and he draw a quick breath. Matt looked down and realized that while sitting on Shiro's bed and browsing the photo book, he had wrinkled the uniform from it's crispy form into something that looked, well, much more like Matt.

"Oops, sorry," Matt cringed. "I'll have it cleaned, don't worry."

Shiro's eyes snapped back at Matt's face, and for a second it looked like he didn't understand what Matt was talking about. Then he saw the photo book on the floor.

"You were looking at my pictures," Shiro stated.

"Yup," Matt yelped, grabbing the book from the floor. "They're very pretty?"

"You broke into my room, put my clothes on, and then sat on my bed to browse my personal photos?" Shiro asked in a weary voice.

Matt blinked. Then he blinked again.

"Well, when you say it like that, it sounds more like–"

"Like a huge invasion of privacy?"

"Uh."

Shiro put his hand on his face and shook his head.

"You are unbelievable, Holt."

"I know, I know," Matt exclaimed. "I'm so darn ingenious and smart and so very cute that you can't possibly stay mad at me. Right?"

Shiro chuckled, stepping closer. He sat besides Matt and took the photo album from his hands.

"You know, Pidge made this for me. The other genius Holt."

"Yes, she's almost as smart as me," Matt nodded rapidly, watching as Shiro stroke the album from corner to corner. "Why didn't you ask me?"

"You weren't around at the time," Shiro answered. "You were in Europe, and I was... well, it wasn't an easy time for me, let's leave it to that."

Matt remembered. He had been going around the world almost as soon as the celebrations at the Garrison had died. He had taken N-7 and few other rebels with him, also Acxa had joined them, and for a brief period, Krolia and Kolivan. It had been mostly for their knowledge of defenses and alien science, but there were plenty of diplomatic reasons for their mixed group. Dad had been there too, naturally, so had Keith and Hunk, again, for different reasons.

Before leaving, Matt had seen Shiro only very briefly and always surrounded by other people. They had hugged, shared some facts about their lives since Kerberos. Matt had ooh'd and aah'd for Shiro's new arm, fascinated by how it worked, but there had been no time to really _talk_. Much less share nostalgic tales from the years they spent together at the Garrison.

"Yeah, it was a long tour," Matt admitted. "I'm glad Pidge was here, then, to help you out."

"Yeah, she had the book specially made in that 3D-printer of hers, that's fused with Altean tech."

"The sweet, sweet Teddy. I think I'm in love with him."

"I'm glad you have someone," Shiro said, knocking his shoulder against Matt's. "Did you see all of them?"

"Nope, just the first half," Matt said, looking wistfully at the closed book on Shiro's lap. "You wanna go through them together?"

"Sure."

Shiro opened the book and after Matt helped him to find the right spot, they ended up staring at a photo where they were in Sforno, he and Shiro and Adam, all scooched up together. Matt remembered that he had asked the waiter to take the picture. Now that he thought about it, it might have been the same waiter who served them the other night.

"That was a fun evening," Matt said, glancing at Shiro.

Shiro didn't look sad. He was smiling, and nodded at Matt's words.

"We had some good times."

"Pfft, we had _only_ good times, dude, it was awesome to the third power! All fun and games."

Shiro laughed, and Matt felt it against his side. He glanced at him again, catching his eye. And then there was some heavy staring, while the book lay on Shiro's thigh all forgotten.

Matt reached out and swept Shiro's chin with his thumb. There was some serious stubble going on, and the scraping of the coarse hair made his whole body tingle.

"We can still have good times. Lots of fun and games, you know," Matt said softly.

Shiro closed his eyes, still smiling, and leaned his head towards Matt. Instead of going for a kiss that Matt was kind of waiting for, he leaned his forehead against Matt's, and just stayed there.

"It's always good times with you, Matt."

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

Shiro woke up at 6 am with a jolt. He slammed the alarm off but stayed on the bed. The dream he had woken from lingered in his mind but all the little details were escaping fast. He was sure that Matt had been in the dream but he didn't remember what they had been doing anymore.

The thought of having a dream about Matt felt odd. Naturally he preferred dreaming of Matt instead of having the usual nightmares but still... he kind of hoped that he'd remember more.

Finally he sat up and went for his morning jog. It was probably best to forget about the dream and go on with his day as per usual, letting the routine do its job and bring balance to his life. But as he was jogging back to his quarters, he still thought of Matt. It was like his brain was stubbornly holding on to the memory that was not real at all. It wasn't even a real scene in his mind, just a memory of the feeling he had as he woke up. And the feeling, well, it wasn't bad at all. On the contrary, it made him smile more as his feet pumped against the pavement, making his insides feel kind of sparkly.

It was a very good feeling.

The half-memory of the dream carried him over until Keith dragged him to spar with him. It had been too long since they last sparred together and because Shiro didn't have any meetings or public appearances or inspirational speaking for that day, he was happy to oblige.

"You're getting slow, old man," Keith taunted him after getting a hard kick in.

Shiro winced, feeling the burn in his ribs, but he chuckled at Keith's words.

"We'll see, won't we. Keep your elbows tight!"

Keith answered with a surge, but that one Shiro saw coming, so he was able to dodge it easily. And while Keith was almost flying by, Shiro snapped his elbow with his arm, making Keith tumble on the floor. Shiro heard the air coming out of his lungs with an 'oof' but he knew Keith was about to pounce in any minute, so he secured him against the mat by sitting on his thighs and locking his arms behind his back.

"You okay?" Shiro asked, panting hard, and got off of Keith, reaching his hand to pull him up.

"Yeah, yeah," Keith said, grabbing Shiro's hand and standing up. He rubbed his arm but otherwise seemed to be in one piece. "I'll get you next time."

"I don't doubt it," Shiro said, bumping his shoulder against Keith's. He was getting used to seeing Keith almost as tall as him. "Thanks for setting this up."

"No problem. I guess it's good to have someone who can take me down a notch," Keith grinned.

He looked surprisingly happy. Shiro had learnt years ago to see the tiny changes in Keith's expressions and translate them into feelings. If there was a slight change in the corner of his lips, then all the others would see Keith wearing a sulky mask, but for Shiro it meant that he was actually amused by something. There was still much that was mystery in Keith, but that was okay. It wasn't like he was an open book for Shiro, but maybe cracked his covers ajar a bit more when it was just the two of them.

"I'm sure Lance can take you down if you let him choose the sport," Shiro mused.

Keith let out a strange sound that was half snort and half gasp. Shiro glanced at him and saw Keith blushing all the way from his neck to his hairline. Then Shiro replayed what he had said, and laughed.

"While I'm sure that's also true, I actually meant like precision shooting or something."

Keith looked a bit sheepish and he grabbed his water bottle, downing half of it in a go.

"That's true. But when it comes to the martial arts, you're the only one," Keith said after a bit.

"You should try Matt sometimes," Shiro said, sitting on the bench. "He can take me down, you know."

Keith flashed a smile.

"Keith! I see Lance has _rubbed on_ you," Shiro said mock-mortified but he was smiling too. It was good to see Keith in such a good mood.

"Yeah, I guess," Keith admitted, sitting besides Shiro. He was quiet for a while, fiddling with the bottle cap. "Matt really can take you down?"

"Yeah, can you believe it," Shiro chuckled. "He's really fast and agile, and he has no rules when he fights. It's all or nothing with him. I guess that goes with his personality, now that I think of it."

"I gotta give him a call sometime," Keith said, smiling again. "You see each other a lot?"

"We've grabbed a coffee a couple of times, talked a bit, had dinner a few times, nothing big," Shiro shrugged. Now that he thought of it, there hadn't been more than a couple of days in between them seeing each other. It wasn't that strange, was it? Shiro saw Keith at least once a week.

"Like, had a date or two?" Keith asked, glancing at Shiro.

That gave him a pause. Were they dates? He thought that he might have known if they were dates, wouldn't he? Sure, the first time they had coffee together had been by accident, a literal accident of them running into each other in front of the hospital, but after that it had always been Matt's suggestion.

Was Matt just trying to be nice to him? Were they pity dates? No, Matt wouldn't do that. He was egocentric enough to do just what he wanted, pretty much nothing else. It was mere luck that what he wanted was usually what the others needed.

"I– I don't think so," Shiro finally said. "I mean, I think we are more like friends."

He didn't sound very sure which Keith apparently noticed, judging by his eyebrow movements.

"I mean, there's something going on but nothing definitive," Shiro tried to explain. He grabbed his towel and dried his sweaty hair with it.

"Sounds pretty much the same I had with Lance during the war," Keith mused.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. We wouldn't talk about it but it was always there. And, uh, we did hook up a lot," Keith said, chuckling silently.

"We knew," Shiro said, rolling his eyes. "But it all ended up pretty well, wouldn't you say? I mean, between you two? You're happy?"

Keith smile grew wider and he nodded, looking at Shiro.

"Yeah, we're happy. Don't know how that's possible, Lance can be a real asshole."

"He has a good heart though," Shiro pointed out, smiling too. "But yes, I guess he can be an asshole from time to time."

Keith got up, laughing, and clunked his water bottle against Shiro's.

"I'll drink to that. Gotta run now, but I'll see you later?"

"Sure thing. Keep up practicing, you'll never beat me otherwise!" Shiro yelled behind Keith, and got a finger for his trouble.

Later that day, Shiro got to launch Atlas in the air for a change. There wasn't many missions for it anymore, but he insisted on flying with it at least once in a couple of weeks, just to keep up the familiarity.

This time, they did their test flight with a minimum crew. Shiro wouldn't get Atlas airborne without Veronica there as a senior operative but he wasn't so fussy about anyone else.

"Atlas is flying smoothly today," Veronica commented after the takeoff.

"Isn't she always," Shiro said, smiling.

"She?" Veronica asked, amused by his choice of word.

"Yes, she," Shiro repeated, patting the side of the control panel. "She's a mighty lady."

"For that, I agree," Veronica said, nodding. "Where to, Captain?"

"Let's take her out of the atmosphere. It's been a while since I saw the Moon last time."

"You don't go out that much, do you," Veronica sniggered, then glanced at Shiro, "Aye, aye, Captain."

Shiro shook his head. He could see that Lance was Veronica's brother, they shared the same sense of humor, even though Veronica's was a bit more cultivated, probably because of their age difference. Or maybe she was just a tad less impulsive than Lance.

Their journey was smooth and fast, and before Shiro knew it, they had gone around the Moon and were on their way back. The Earth filled the screen in all its gloriousness, and Shiro's heart was full. He had helped save the Earth. He could not hope for more meaningful prize than a peace on Earth.

"Base to Atlas," the comms announced just before they entered the atmosphere again.

"Atlas here," Shiro responded himself, switching the screen on.

"Nice view you have there," Matt's face appeared on the smaller screen besides the main screen. Admiral Holt was standing behind him, grinning.

"Yes, we do," Shiro laughed, looking at Matt. He had his hair in a bun, and for once, he was wearing his Garrison uniform. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Oh, just checking up to see if the comms are working," Matt said and winked.

Shiro heard Veronica stifle a laugh, and he rolled his eyes.

"The comms are working just fine, like they always do," Shiro said raising his eyebrows. "All good down there?"

"Yes, yes, excellent," Matt said, waving his hand. "Do you like the new screen rendering? I fixed it up yesterday. Much clearer picture, right?"

"Yes, I can see you just fine, Matt," Shiro sighed. He was still smiling though, he couldn't help himself. Matt had somehow roped his father into this charade, and also worn his crisp uniform for the occasion for the reasons he could only guess.

"If you adjust the screen, you can now zoom steplessly and still maintain the original view. Go on, try it! It's like PiP but more clever."

"Yes, because it was built by you, no doubt," Sam chuckled behind Matt.

"Naturally," Matt said, ducking his head to the side. Then he looked back at Shiro. "Just try it, _Captain_ , you're gonna love it."

The way Matt said 'Captain' made goose bumps appear on Shiro's arm. His smile faltered a bit, not because it was unpleasant but because of the strong reaction Matt's words got out of him. He swallowed and blinked a couple of times to get his bearings.

"Yes, sir," he said after a pause, looking down at the console, almost missing the slight gasp that escaped from Matt's lips.

The whole scene felt weird. It was Matt but instead of it being a normal Matt, it was a version of Matt in a fancy uniform, speaking to him via official channel in front of his whole crew. And at the same time, it was definitely the same Matt because there was the usual glint in his eyes, and while the swearing was cut down to the minimum, Shiro could hear them in between the polished words just the same.

He zoomed in, focusing on a single freckle on Matt's cheekbone, trying to make it look like an accident.

"Oops, how does this work exactly?" Shiro asked innocently, looking up at the screen.

Apparently Matt could see the view on the Atlas screen from some other screen of his, because he grinned wickedly, and behind him Sam fake coughed, clearly trying to cover up a snigger.

"Commander Holt, what did you do?" Shiro asked, fixing his stare at Matt.

"Oh, nothing, nothing. Don't worry about it!" Matt said a little too quickly. "Just zoom like you'd do with your pad." And Matt demonstrated by showing his hand and doing the required finger movements.

Shiro did as asked, zooming in to a single freckle, then zooming out as far as he could, until he could see both of the Holts again.

"That enough?" Shiro asked. "We're almost home now."

"Yes, that'll be all. Thank you for your co-operation, _Captain_ ," Matt saluted, though there wasn't an ounce of officiality on his face anymore. He was smiling so wide, that Shiro had to quit the connection before Matt started to do the thing with his eyebrows that he loved so much.

"Bring her home," Shiro said instead. "I think I'm going to need to have a word with some of the base personnel."

"Just the one word, Captain?" Veronica asked sweetly.

"That's enough, Mcclain," Shiro chuckled, leaning on the console, watching the Garrison grow on the screen, until it filled it from top to bottom.

Sam was nowhere to be seen, but Matt was still at the command center when Shiro entered. He was sitting by the console, looking at something. And as Shiro walked nearer, he saw that matt was looking at a screen capture of him, taken on the bridge of Atlas.

Shiro stopped behind Matt and stared at him.

"The resolution is awesome!" Matt exclaimed, startling Shiro.

"I can see that," Shiro mumbled but he was pretty sure Matt could still hear his words. "Were you actually testing something, or was it all just for the fun?"

"Well, it's important to test the _equipment_ beforehand, you know, before the _real deal_ ," Matt said, accompanying his words with some heavy eyebrow movements, looking up at Shiro.

"Yeah, well, I think that's taken care of," Shiro said. He couldn't help but smile at Matt and his antics.

"Yeah, you did very well, _sir_ ," Matt said, saluting even though he was still sitting by the console. There was a pair of cadets staring at them from the other side of the room.

Shiro sighed.

"What's this? Mock Shiro Day?" he asked, looking at Matt in the eye.

"Not mocking, no, fuck, you'd know if I was mocking you, Shirogane," Matt snorted, pointing at the screen. "This is important! It's just lucky that we had such a fine target for the zooming opportunities."

Then Matt played with the picture, zooming it in and out into various parts of Shiro, his stubble on the temple, the uppermost button of his uniform. The lowest button of his uniform.

"That– uh, I think that's enough demonstration," Shiro said, blushing, and checking if the cadets could see the screen. Fortunately they couldn't.

"You sure? I could maybe zoom into some other parts!" Matt grinned widely. "But yeah, sure."

Matt did his finger flick for the last time, so that there was only Shiro's face on the screen. He was smiling, probably even laughing in the picture, and his eyes were full of mirth.

"Would you look at that," Matt sighed, gesturing to the screen. "You must love flying."

"Among other things," Shiro said, grabbing the back rest of Matt's chair.

"Is it just because she's a big ship? Or does the size matter?"

Shiro rolled his eyes.

"Enough with the baiting, Holt," he scolded. Matt sniggered a while but then he looked up at the real Shiro.

"Have you been flying with the Lions after you guys came back Earth?"

"I've taken Black out for a spin a couple times," Shiro shrugged.

"Really?" Matt asked, clearly intrigued. "She still accepts you?"

"Yeah," Shiro smiled. "She knows it's for fun. I guess she's indulging me."

"And Keith doesn't mind? He's not jealous at all?"

"Come on, it's not like Keith owns the Black Lion. The paladin bond is there whether he's flying her or not. It will always be there."

Matt looked wistful.

"I guess I'll never know."

"Well, we could go for a ride sometimes?" Shiro offered. "I know you've flown with Green but maybe you'd like to try out the _biggest one_ , uh, you know, for comparison's sake?"

"Why, _Captain_ ", Matt said, pressing his hand on his chest. "Are you suggesting to taking me to the moon and back?"

Shiro burst into laughter, still holding on Matt's chair but now Matt leaned back against his fingers, almost like he wanted to establish a physical bond without actually taking hold of Shiro's hand. Matt was sneaky like that.

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Shiro said after he caught his breath again. "You up for it, _Commander_?"

"I'm always up for anything, _Captain_ , and you know it!"

Shiro glanced around and noticed the cadets were now whispering to each other. Maybe this was not the right time or place to have this particular conversation.

"We should head out, come on," Shiro said, nodding towards the exit. "Let's grab some lunch."

"Yes, Captain," Matt got up and snapped into salute.

* * *


	6. Chapter 6

"You know you don't have to come if you're not feeling it, though in that case, I would be super sad because I'd have to eat double as much, and you know how hard it is to keep up this ah-mazing body of mine," Matt prattled on the phone, while picking up the cleanest shirt he had. Which wasn't so hard because he had one (1) clean shirt in his closet. Maybe he was due to do some laundry soon.

"I know, and thank you," Shiro answered. "It's okay, though. It's been a while, and they did invite me last Sunday too but, well, you know."

Oh, Matt knew, all right! Last Sunday, he had picked Shiro up and taken him to the ice rink. And proceeded to fall down spectacularly for the next hour. Shiro had been surprisingly agile and had fallen down only once; a fact that Matt was still jealous of. _"I mean, I'm the one who's not using brute force while fighting, so why are you the one who's good at this?"_ And then the bastard had told Matt that he used to skate as a kid. A single fact that he hadn't told Matt ever. The most crucial part of information that Matt could have used to not go to the ice rink, and do the mini golf instead.

Life was not fair at all.

In the end, they hadn't gone to the Sunday dinner, even though Matt had planned the timetable so that they had a chance to go see his family if Shiro was feeling it. Instead, he had hit his head so bad that Shiro had insisted taking him to ER. So, that was last Sunday, the romantic date while Matt was having so bad headache he had to throw up, and Shiro ended up holding his hair.

Kind of like in high school.

Although, in high school, Matt had pretty much just played video games, instead of partying because back then he was a nerd. Not that he wasn't a nerd now, but the age had brought him a certain level of coolness to mellow out his nerdiness. At least, that's what Matt hoped for.

"Okay, but still. We could get pizza instead, and then you could try to beat me in Halo CX."

"Excuse me? _Try to beat you?_ I would wipe the floor with you and your crazy hair," Shiro scoffed.

Matt smiled. He loved to hear Shiro laugh and be happy. That was the Shiro he remembered from the time they spent in the Garrison, before all the horrible things happened. The Shiro who would actually take part in some more benevolent pranks Matt and Adam cooked up, or start a food war in the middle of the cafeteria. Sure, Shiro never got blamed, only Matt and sometimes Adam too, but it didn't matter. They all knew the pull the Holt name had in the Garrison, so it was a fair deal.

"We'll see about that, won't we," he said ominously.

"Sure thing, Matt," Shiro scoffed.

There was silence on the other end while Matt buttoned up his shirt.

"Shiro? You still there?"

"Yeah, I'm here."

"Do you still want pineapples on the pizza, you savage?" Matt asked after a beat.

"You hate pineapples on pizza," Shiro said solemnly.

"I can always pick them up and feed them to you. Or throw them at you, it's your choice."

There was a rustle of clothes, and Matt thought that maybe Shiro sat down. It might have been a vid call for all intent and purpose, because he could tell by the faint sounds of movements, that Shiro had buried his face on his palm.

"Wait there, I'm coming over," Matt decided, snatching his jacket from his bed.

"No, Matt, it's okay. I think I'll just stay in today," Shiro said quickly. "Thanks for the offer, though."

"Nah, I think I'm still coming over," Matt said stubbornly.

"Matt, please. I don't need you to babysit me!"

"Are you gonna open the door for me?" Matt asked just as he locked his own door and headed to the parking lot.

"Does it matter? You can get it open anyway," Shiro said. His voice sounded almost dejected, which was kind of troubling. Matt's steps faltered and he considered for a second if this truly was a good idea.

"That was under a special occasion," Matt reminded Shiro. "I couldn't go to the banquet, wearing baggy jeans and a hoodie."

"Yeah, yeah," Shiro sighed. "Do whatever." And he stopped the call without saying goodbye.

Matt hovered by his hoverbike gnawing his bottom lip and staring at the horizon. Maybe he was pushing too hard? Maybe he should just go to see his family alone and make excuses for Shiro? Or maybe he should go see Shiro and figure out what was wrong. He hadn't been lying when he said that they could just get pizza and hang out, just the two of them.

The old insecurities tried to take a hold of Matt, but he fought them off. Shiro was his friend. If he really needed to be alone, Matt would see it firsthand when he got there. But he had to be sure. It was exactly like Shiro to tell him that all was well, and then suffer alone, not wanting to bother anyone. But maybe that was just what Shiro needed, someone to bother him, maybe even someone to vent his feelings at.

The ride took only fifteen minutes, though it would have taken more if Matt hadn't been speeding the whole time. He had lost his hair tie somewhere between his home and the Garrison, but he wasn't too worried about it. While he walked to the building Shiro lived in, he braided his hair to keep it off of his face. It would have to do, and it wasn't like his hair was immaculate all the time. He was a mess, and and both him and also Shiro knew it.

"It's me," Matt called while knocking on the door.

Shiro opened the door almost immediately. Apparently he had been sure that Matt was coming over. Well, it was good that the visit was actually expected. This was a good sign.

Shiro was wearing clean pressed slacks and a fresh button up. In spite of his clothes looking immaculate, his hair was a mess, like he'd been pulling it while trying to de-stress.

"I didn't' bring you pineapple pizza," Matt confessed, closing the door behind him.

"That's cool," Shiro answered, sitting on his bed.

Matt wondered, if he should sit next to Shiro but opted to sit on the floor, leaning his head against the bed, just few inches from Shiro's foot that was tapping the floor nervously. Matt kept quiet, just stared at the ceiling and its pristine whiteness. You'd think that the Garrison could maybe do some patterns on the surfaces of their facilities. Just to make things interesting. But Matt guessed that the Garrison had other things to worry about than decorating the private quarters of their officers.

Or the rooms that the cadets lived in, for that matter. Matt still remembered all the orange that they used, like, orange uniforms, orange bedspreads, even the notebooks had orange lining at the top.

"You think they'd hire a decorator here at the Garrison now that things have settled down?"

"What?" Shiro asked, raising his head from his hands and looking down at Matt.

Matt turned his head to face Shiro, and looked at him, upside down.

"You know, all the orange stuff at the cadets' rooms? That's horrible and so very uninspiring. Like they want us to be dull robots and just do like they say and not think for ourselves," Matt explained his thought process. Then he perked up. "Hey! I bet that's why they do that, those monsters!"

Shiro chuckled.

"Yeah, I think they would do something else than the colors of your uniforms to brainwash us, if they wanted that to happen."

"It's the little things, Shirogane, it's always the little things," Matt reminded Shiro, mock-seriously.

Matt didn't turn his head, just kept staring at Shiro who was again, leaning on his palm. But Matt could still see one of his eyes, and it was peeled at him. He wondered what Shiro was thinking about.

"What are you thinking about?" Matt asked because he wasn't one to keep his thoughts private.

"You," Shiro said shortly.

"What about me?" Matt asked, perking up a little. It felt weird looking at Shiro upside down, kind of mesmerizing, really, because while he looked just like the old Shiro, he looked somehow different because of the perspective, and Matt could find so many mental connections from that realization, it was like an epiphany.

"Why do you do this?" Shiro asked.

"Do what exactly?" Matt asked. "Sit on the floor? It's a nice carpet, not too shabby for a rebel like me."

"No, I mean," Shiro pushed his fingers through his hair, anxious to get the words out. "I mean, why do you do _this?_ Barge in here even though I said not to come? Keep pestering me to go places, to see other people? Why do you spend time with me?"

Matt's eyebrows rose like two arced rockets to behind his hair, and he grinned widely.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes, I'm serious! You must have more important things to do than babysit me. I'm fine, you know, just fine," Shiro snorted and looked away, breathing heavily, like he was expecting a rejection.

Wait, what? Did Shiro think he was some kind of charity project for Matt?

"Fuck, dude, you're hardly a baby," Matt scoffed, sliding his hand along Shiro's arm, squeezing the bicep. "Isn't it obvious, though? I like spending time with you, you idiot."

Shiro's eyes followed the path Matt's hand traveled, up his arm, then down, until Matt's fingers were just grazing the side of his pinky finger, then they were gone.

"Okay, well, um, then it's okay," Shiro stammered, blushing from the top of his ears to the dimple on his chin, and lower.

"You are blushing!" Matt singsonged, reaching up to poke at Shiro's cheek. "That's cute. Would say that I didn't know you could blush but then I'd be lying. You're worse than Lance."

"Shut up," Shiro huffed without heat, shaking his head. "You're impossible, Holt."

"Nah, I'm much more, like, _a sure thing_ ," Matt said with levity in his voice.

"Is that so," Shiro mused. His voice sounded lower than before, and Matt had to swallow because it felt like his mouth was suddenly watering.

"Yeah!" he continued enthusiastically. "So, what're you gonna do about it?"

Shiro smiled, and put his hand on top of Matt's head. His eyes flickered at the braid that was lying on Matt's shoulder, like he was wondering what it was doing there. Or maybe Shiro had never seen a braid. No matter the reason, Matt still felt the weight of Shiro's hand on his head, and he kind of enjoyed it. Well, as a rule, he enjoyed all the touches he could get from Shiro, so no surprises there.

"I'm going to get up and put on a jacket. Then I'm going to drive us to see your family, and maybe have a decent meal now that I know you haven't been part of making it. And then..."

"Yes?" Matt said, watching and appreciating as Shiro rose up on his feet and straightened the back of his shirt, showing a little sliver of bare skin for a second.

"Well, then, we'll see what happens," Shiro said cryptically, grabbing his ID from the nightstand and offering his hand to help Matt up.

Matt grabbed Shiro's hand and was hoisted up so fast he had a head rush. 

"Okay, let's do that!"

They were out of the door and halfway to the parking lot before Matt realized what Shiro had said earlier.

"Hey! What did you mean with 'it's a decent meal if I haven't been making it'?"

"Well, I might not be much of a cook, but you, Matt, you're even worse," Shiro answered jovially, patting Matt on the shoulder.

"No, nope. Not true. Totally unacceptable. You're worse cook than me, and I have proof!"

"What proof?" Shiro asked.

"I have seen you eat dry noodles from the package because you didn't know how to cook them!" Matt exclaimed, opening the car door and hopping in. He waited, until Shiro sat down on the driver's seat, before continuing. "And that, my friend, is worse than not knowing how to make a canned soup!"

Shiro burst into laughter.

"Oh, that's right! I remember now, you put the whole can in the microwave and almost blew it up! Some genius you are!"

"Yes I did! But still, you didn't even figure out to boil some water for your noodles!" Matt proclaimed victoriously.

"Did you even think of a possibility that I might actually like them dry?" Shiro asked, glancing swiftly at Matt, then putting the car on reverse, and backing out of the slot. He left his hand on the stick, the fingers almost touching Matt's thigh.

"Of course not," Matt scoffed. "Nobody in their right mind would think that dry noodles– wait! You like them dry? Dude! What's wrong with you?"

Shiro chuckled and clicked his iPod in, before starting towards the Holt house. He left his hand on the stick for the whole ride, and Matt could almost feel the nonexisting heat radiating from his fingers, the hand almost beckoning him to touch it.

* * *


	7. Chapter 7

Shiro straightened the lapels of his jacket. He knew rationally, that there was no reason to be nervous. The Holts would accept him even if he was wearing a t-shirt with sauce stains on it. Truth to be told, he was more nervous about explaining to them, where he had been during these three months he hadn't visited them. Of course, he saw Admiral Holt on weekly basis, but it was always for work.

Shiro took a deep breath and got out of the car. Matt was already out, waiting surprisingly patiently for him to gather his thoughts. The night was brisky. Not really cold, not anymore, but the warmness of the summer had not yet come.

At least it wasn't raining, and for that Shiro was grateful.

"You ready?" Matt asked, stepping away from the car that he had been leaning in to.

Shiro nodded and walked to the front door. The house was painted light brown, with darker brown corners, but the door was of lighter color, almost white, and there was a soft colored lantern hanging by it. He was about to knock on the door, when Matt grabbed his hand.

"Don't bother, they know we're coming," Matt said, and pushed the door open.

Immediately, there was a small brown dog dashing towards them from the kitchen. Matt dropped on his knees, but the dog just licked his face once, then hopped against Shiro's leg.

"Traitor," Matt mumbled.

Shiro laughed, and got down on one knee to let Bae Bae greet him properly.

"I swear, the dog loves you more than me," Matt grumbled.

"That goes for the whole family, you dork," Pidge said, walking down the stairs. "We'd adopt Shiro if it was possible. And kick you out."

"Love you too, Pidgeon," Matt hopped over Bae Bae and Shiro and hugged Pidge, lifting her up from the floor and swaying her left and right.

"Get off me!" Pidge laughed, wriggling to get free. It took only a second for her to find the secret tickling spot for Matt to yield and set her down. Shiro felt like he should be taking notes.

"It's great to see you, Pidge," Shiro said, smiling at her.

"You too, O' great leader!"

Shiro laughed at her antics and tried to ruffle her hair, but she dodged his attempt easily.

"Too fast for you, old man!" Pidge declared victoriously.

She was as small as ever, the only thing that had changed in her appearance was, that her hair seemed to be way longer than Shiro remembered. She must have it tied up earlier, and of course, during their journey back, she had had her helmet on almost all the time. No wonder it she looked so different. Technically, he hadn't seen her in years, and all that lost time was weighing his head. Even though he had witnessed everything through the clone's memories, somehow they felt more dull than his own memories, almost like he was seeing them through smudged glass.

"That's not the way to talk to our distinguished guest," Matt scolded her, turning to Shiro and bowing at him with a ridiculously flourish.

"Welcome to our humble abode. May I take your coat?" he joked, tugging at Shiro's jacket sleeve.

"Oh, shut up, Matt," Shiro snorted.

"Keep your coat then, but I promise you, it's gonna come off at some point. We're dining in tonight, and I already saw mom bring out the Charades," Matt stage whispered as he lead Shiro to the sitting room.

"I did no such thing!" Colleen hollered across the room, rushing in to greet Shiro. "I wouldn't expose you to that, Shiro, I know my children are impossible."

"They are sore losers," Sam confirmed, coming in behind Shiro. "Last time Pidge lost in Charades, she threw her pad in the fire."

"Oh hush now, love," Colleen said, but she too was sniggering. Then she turned to Shiro. "It's so wonderful to see you! Come in, and give me a hug!"

And as Colleen wrapped her arms around Shiro, despite her being much smaller than him, she enveloped him completely. It felt like she was giving him a full body embrace like only a mother can.

"I'm so glad you came," Colleen whispered in Shiro's ear. "You are always welcome, you hear me? Always."

"Thank you Colleen."

Shiro had to blink a couple extra times. He had really missed the Holts, and especially Colleen. He was glad now that he had let Matt convince him to come.

As he let her go, Sam stepped closer grabbing Shiro's hand.

"Welcome, Shiro, we're happy to have you here."

"Thank you, sir," Shiro nodded, giving Sam a firm handshake.

"Nonsense, we're not at work now, you call me Sam," Sam said, patting Shiro on the shoulder. "Now, come, let's eat! We made pasta because Matt told us that it's your favorite."

Shiro glanced at Matt, who just shrugged and grinned.

The dining room was set with what seemed to be a normal setting, nothing was too fancy, and Shiro appreciated it. He saw five chairs pulled to the table and looked around.

The dinner itself was delicious, naturally, now that Matt hadn't had the chance to "help". Shiro was also relieved that nobody asked him why he hadn't visited for so many weeks. He had a suspicion that Matt might have told his family to relax and not question him. He had to remember to thank Matt after they left.

They didn't end up playing Charades, much to Pidge's chagrin, but settled in to watch a movie.

It was nice. Actually it was more than nice. Shiro didn't pay that much attention to the movie, it was some sort of sci-fi comedy, and Matt spent the entire length of it guessing possible outcomes, spinning out conspiracy theories and just making comments. Pidge tried to shush him from time to time, but the others just laughed. The Holts were clearly accustomed to this kind of behavior, and so was Shiro. He still remembered witnessing something alike back at the Garrison, although he didn't remember Matt being quite this audacious.

The movie was about half done when Sam announced a bathroom break. Matt and Colleen disappeared to the kitchen to get more snacks, and Pidge was busy checking her mobile, so Shiro got up.

"I'll just get some fresh air," he explained, as Pidge looked up from her phone.

The door to the backyard lead from the room next to the den. It wasn't dark outside yet, but the overhang cast enough shadow on the porch, so Shiro didn't feel like standing in display for the people passing by on the street next to the house. He breathed slowly in and out. 

It was great seeing the Holts, but after months of self assigned seclusion, it was a bit much. Not enough for him to leave yet, but definitely enough for him to need a breather. After a moment, the door behind him clicked open.

"Didn't like the movie?"

It was Matt, and he stepped beside Shiro, stretching his arms up and popping his back. He looked at Shiro, and from this angle, the scar on his cheek was clearly visible. Shiro's hand moved a bit, then he thought better of it, and put the hand in his pocket.

"Nah, it was okay. A little ridiculous, but that's what I expected because I knew you picked it."

"Harsh!" Matt snorted and poked his elbow into Shiro's ribs. "It's a classic, well, it will be classic in a few decades, I'm sure of it."

"Right," Shiro rolled his eyes. "Wouldn't bet on it, though."

Matt laughed softly and turned his eyes to the sky. There was still too much light to see the stars clearly, and Shiro felt actually anxious to see the familiar constellations again. He had spent so much time in different side of the Universe, seeing strange stars that were always in weird places. The ground beneath his feet felt familiar too. Matt... Matt felt, well, also familiar but also somehow different.

Shiro glanced at Matt from the corner of his eyes.

Matt had closed his eyes, his face still upturned towards the sky. He had a small smile on his face, like he was listening to something. His hands were clasped behind his back, and his stance made his collar bones jut out from underneath the stretched out collar of his t-shirt. Shiro saw all the freckles, and they too looked familiar. He'd stared at them so many times, and he remembered wanting to put his lips on them from the start, from the first day he met Matt.

 

  
[ Art by [@hydraxx](https://hydraxx.tumblr.com/), remember to like/reblog on Tumblr ([link here](https://hydraxx.tumblr.com/post/185302985204/my-pieces-for-giraffvinus-shattbigbang)!)

 

It was clear, even for Shiro who was dense pretty much all the time when it came to social interactions, that Matt was interested in him. It stroked his ego, that Matt saw him as something to be wanted, even though he was broken not just one way but for more ways that he could even count. He wasn't sick anymore, and he didn't have the gruesome Galra arm, but a beautiful new limb, tougher than steel and filled with pure Altean magic. But still, he was still filled with all the horrors that kept him awake most nights.

The most gruesome part of him was the fact that he was a dead man walking. He was supposed to be dead. For all things considered, he _was_ dead, but for some miracle, maybe more than one, here he was, still kicking.

Surely Matt would want someone more wholesome? Someone more interesting? Someone who didn't doubt his right to live, and who had less skeletons in their closet.

He looked away before his eyes would expose his thoughts. Truth to be told, he was much more than _fine_ when he was with Matt. He was happier when he was talking with Matt, happier than he'd been in, well, years really. He'd been doing some crazy things during the last weeks, acting the way he hadn't done since the early days at Garrison. It was all because of Matt. There were no young cadets waiting for his commands anymore, there was no longer the weight of the Universe on his shoulders. He felt more free than he had ever done in his life.

Matt stood there, now staring at Shiro and grinning like a maniac. Shiro kept glancing at him, but couldn't stare at him too long. It felt weird, being admired like that. Well, it wasn't like he wasn't admired before, but it had always been him as a part of a bigger organization. At first, it was the Garrison, he was the poster boy, he represented the organization and people admiring him saw him as that: the front. Later on, it was for Voltron Alliance, which was pretty much the same.

But on the personal level, it felt fresh and intriguing. To be recognized as a person. Shiro hadn't had that since Adam, and frankly, it felt good.

"So, what now? You want to catch the end of the movie, or do you wanna bail? I'm sure, my parents wouldn't mind," Matt asked.

"Oh, right, the movie," Shiro had already forgotten about it. He checked his watch. "I guess it's getting late, so maybe I should just–"

"Nope. Na ah. You're not going home yet. We're going out!" Matt declared.

"We are out, Matt," Shiro pointed out.

"Oh, for fuck's sake, Shirogane, spare me the details," Matt rolled his eyes, "I'm taking you out and that's final."

"What? Like a date?" Shiro asked.

"Is that what you want?" Matt asked back, raising his eyebrow.

Shiro could see that even if the question was said as a joke, there was something on his face that made him think that maybe Matt was being serious. Maybe his answer was relevant, and maybe Matt was waiting for the green light to go forth on his mission.

Well, Shiro didn't like to disappoint people, least of all, disappoint Matt. Not to mention that a date with Matt was something he really wanted to have, to hell with consequences.

"Yes, it is," Shiro said with conviction. "I'd like that very much."

Matt's jaw dropped. It was so rare, seeing Matt speechless, that Shiro felt a bubble of laughter in his chest, and did nothing to prevent it escaping his lips.

"Cat got your tongue?"

"Something did, dunno know what yet," Matt said cryptically. He squinted his eyes, like he was scheming something sinister, but before Shiro got too nervous, Matt grabbed his hand. "You tell the old folks, never mind Pidge, and I'll grab some food."

"You what?" Shiro stammered, while Matt dragged him into the house again. "And _I'll what?_ "

But it was too late. Matt had disappeared in the kitchen, leaving Shiro stare at the Holts who one by one turned to stare back at him.

"Is something wrong?" Colleen asked, after a beat.

"No, no, everything is fine," Shiro rushed to explain. "It's just, uh, well, thank you for the lovely evening."

"You are leaving already?" Sam sounded mildly surprised.

"Ah, well, yes, it's quite late," Shiro said, checking the time and cringing because it wasn't even 8 pm yet, "and Matt thought that we–"

"Thanks, guys, I'll take it from here," Matt shouted from the kitchen, and by the sounds of it, was tearing it apart. There was clinking of dishes and utensils, an ominous 'thunk', followed by loud swearing as Matt apparently dropped something on the floor.

"I... see," Colleen said slowly, eyeing the doorway to the kitchen. She rose up. "It was wonderful to see you, Shiro."

She stepped closer and hugged Shiro, just like she did when he'd arrived. Sam got up too, offering his hand, which Shiro shook while still holding Colleen in his arms.

"Don't be a stranger," Sam said simply, nodding at Shiro.

"See you later!" Pidge said from the couch, which she had commandeered all to herself now that Shiro and Matt weren't sitting on it anymore. She used her limited height excellently, stretching her body all the way from one armrest to another, although her toes barely brushed the end of the couch.

"Good night to you all," Shiro nodded, and retreated to the kitchen.

Matt had a insulated box half full of cuttings, bread, a bottle of wine, a chunk of cheese, some apple pie. Thankfully, he hadn't tried to stuff any pasta in the box, Shiro was sure that it would have been disastrous.

"Okay, all set, let's go!" Matt exclaimed, grabbing Shiro's arm, the real one, for a change.

"Where are we going?" Shiro asked, perplexed, as they walked to the car, leaving Bae Bae barking on the other side of the door.

"Dunno, I'll figure something out," Matt shrugged, placing the box on the back seat. "Let's just drive for a while, okay?"

Shiro started the car and did that. Matt handled the music and picked up the most ridiculous songs he could think of, then sang aloud with them, somehow knowing all the words. Shiro turned to the interstate leading to the Garrison, just in case, because if Matt didn't figure out a plan soon, they were going to spend the rest of the evening in Shiro's place. And while that plan wasn't exactly unpleasant, Shiro kind of wanted to agree on doing it beforehand, instead of just hijacking Matt.

"Okay, this is perfect. I know where we'll go. Just keep driving past the Garrison," Matt said, tapping his phone with furious speed.

Shiro obliged.

The gate leading to the Garrison grounds flashed past them, and Shiro kept a steady speed. Soon the scenery changed, and instead of houses, there was only the road and the low hanging sun that was about to hit the horizon.

"Turn right after half a mile," Matt said. His voice sounded just like the one they had in the navigator, and Shiro smiled.

"Turning right."

Matt led them to an overhang that faced south. There was a patch of dry hay from the previous summer growing on the ground, and a bush nearby that had already tiny green leave buds growing out in multiple spots. It was quite beautiful.

"How did you know about this place?" Shiro asked.

"Oh, I just found this picture in Insta, and checked out the location," Matt shrugged, showing the picture of the same scenery they saw opening under the ledge.

"That's... pretty clever," Shiro admitted, bumping his shoulder against Matt's. "I'll get the food."

He also found a blanket in the trunk, and grabbed it with the box. He laid the blanket on the ground and smiled as Matt took it as an invitation to get comfortable.

"Never mind me, I'll just do all the work," Shiro laughed.

"Oh, _garcon_ , give me some apple pie, would you?" Matt singsonged, reaching out and making grabby hands.

"Yes, sir," Shiro saluted and dug a piece of pie from the box. He tried to hand it to Matt but he just leaned on his elbows and opened his mouth.

Shiro hesitated for a second. Matt had closed his eyes, just waiting there to be fed. And since Shiro didn't really have any objections having his fingers close to Matt's mouth, he took a piece of the pie and put it in Matt's mouth. And if his fingers swept along Matt's bottom lip while he was doing it, he didn't hear any complaints.

Matt munched the pie, his eyes still closed, and after he got his mouth empty, he started making some obscene sounds. Shiro could see a faint blush on his cheeks, and by the feel of it, his own cheeks were around the same color by now.

"You're gonna miss the sunset if you keep your eyes closed," Shiro said to break the silence.

"Oh man, wouldn't want that to happen. I mean, you do realize that a billion sunset just happens every day, and they're never the same? That's incredible!" Matt burst out, opening his eyes with a snap.

"Well, that's one way to look at it," Shiro chuckled. He could see that Pidge and Matt were related.

"Yeah, I love the other stars more, to be honest, but I'll always have a special place in my heart for our own Sun. I missed it," Matt sighed happily.

Shiro settled down besides Matt. They were close enough for their shoes to lean against each other's but not close enough for their arms to touch. Matt kept tapping his shoe against Shiro's by some rhythm he had inside his head while they spent the next few minutes just staring at the glorious sunset.

"Do you think people come to this place to make out?" Matt said suddenly, looking at Shiro.

"Uh, I don't know. I guess? It's kind of romantic," Shiro stammered, surprised by the question. Then he blushed again.

"Oh, so you think this is romantic?" Matt grinned, rolling on his side, lying now so very close to Shiro.

"Well, yes, I mean, it's like a VIP box to see the sunset. Isn't that what couples do?"

"Is that what you'd like us to do?" Matt asked, his grin morphing into a sappy smile.

"Which one?" Shiro asked, looking at Matt. He was only inches away. Shiro felt his pulse quickening.

"Well, I was gonna suggest making out but the 'couple' thing was next on my list," Matt admitted, staring at Shiro's lips. "You mind?"

"I don't mind," Shiro said, shaking his head very slightly. Then he leaned even closer and pressed his lips against Matt's.

It had been some time since he had kissed anyone but the muscle memory was still there. And Matt's lips were there too, sliding next to his. Shiro angled his head a little better, his breath puffing against Matt's cheek as he really went for it.

It felt incredible.

The way Matt held back a little, staring right at Shiro and licking his lips, then ducking back, groaning a little, as the feeling of lips on lips multiplied due to the fact that they weren't dry anymore. Shiro nipped Matt's bottom lip, and felt his tongue swipe against him.

Shiro opened up, tasting Matt properly. He pushed to the ground to get to a better vantage point, his thigh pressing against Matt's, and he reached out to grab Matt's head, slotting his fingers through his hair, holding him closer and sucking the sounds right out of Matt's lips.

The kiss got heated fairly soon, Matt groaning into it, dropping down on his back and pulling Shiro on top of him, hooking his leg over Shiro's as to point out that he was still too far away.

Shiro was happy to oblige. He rolled halfway on top of Matt, pushing his hips against Matt's, his thigh against Matt's crotch and let out a careless swear because of the friction it caused.

Matt was groping Shiro, and his movements were totally uninhibited. Almost as if he wasn't sure where to touch him, so he tried everything. He was in a hurry, and Shiro got the feeling that Matt was afraid that _this_ wouldn't last long, so he had to take what he could get while he could get it.

Shiro didn't like _that_ idea, so he pulled back an inch, then another, because Matt was pushing up, trying to reach him again, to continue the frenzied kiss and finally whining, as Shiro just petted his hair, kissing his cheek.

"Slow down, there's no rush," Shiro whispered.

"But I wanna!" Matt whined, pulling himself closer by grabbing Shiro's shoulders.

The added weight made Shiro lose his balance, and he dropped on top of Matt, his lungs emptying with a whoosh. Shiro checked that Matt hadn't hit his head on the ground, but there was a thick mattress of dry hay beneath the blanket, so he just snorted at Matt's neck.

"Yeah, I kinda wanna too," he admitted, pressing a kiss on Matt's jaw. "But you know, there really is no rush."

Matt wrapped his arms and legs around Shiro, mumbling something unintelligent on his collarbone. Shiro held him under the first stars that had appeared in the darkening sky, enjoying the warmness surrounding him.

* * *


	8. Chapter 8

The sun was shining straight into Matt's eyes next morning as he woke up lying diagonally on his bed, his arm hanging from the side, the fingertips almost touching the floor.

"Ouch," Matt mumbled, stretching his arms. He had a crick in his neck, and he didn't quite feel all his limbs at the moment.

He rolled around to grab his phone from the nightstand. Three new messages.

>   
> Shiro: Thank you. I had really good time today.  
> 

>   
> Shiro: Also, I feel kind of bad for stopping, eh, things like that.  
> 

>   
> Shiro: *slowing things, because we're definitely going to do that again.  
> 

Matt grinned, remembering the last night. They had stayed, cuddling and exchanging slow kisses for hours, until all the stars shone brightly above them. And while Matt had definitely been ready to do more than cuddle, he had to admit, it was a really good way to spend the evening.

And it wasn't like they didn't have time now. They had all the time. Except when Matt had to go to work, like, now. But he still had a few minutes to spare, so he typed a quick answer or three.

>   
> Matt: Oh babe it's always _magnificent_ w/ me and also w/ u so I guess we a good couple  
> 

>   
> Matt: Pls tell me u had sweeeet dreams abt what could've happened  
> 

>   
> Matt: I wish I had but just weird robo vs robo fighting ovr me  
> 

>   
> Matt: Thinking abt u now tho :P  
> 

It took a couple of minutes for Shiro to answer, and in the meantime, Matt had fallen asleep again. The message alert woke him with a start, and he did the same morning routine again, before grabbing his phone.

>   
> Shiro: I don't even dare to ask. But good morning! Aren't you late for work, though?  
> 

>   
> Matt: Yeah yeah, just abt to leave! Don't worry sugarplums  
> 

>   
> Shiro: Please, don't call me that. And drive safe :)  
> 

>   
> Matt: Always sugarplums <3  
> 

And he did drive safe, not within the speed limit but he was pretty confident that if there was a problem with the driving, it wasn't the speed but the driver.

Matt climbed off his hoverbike just to find out that he'd lost another hair band. He huffed aloud. Apparently he'd need to visit Pidge again. Or maybe Keith and Lance, Keith still had that mullet. So while he was walking towards the lab, he braided his hair again.

"Late night?"

It was Pidge's way of greeting him. She had her own workspace in the same lab with him. It was way easier that way, than both of them having a different lab and needing to vid call all day long to each other.

"Yo, Pidgeon! And yes, pretty long, like usual," Matt said, throwing his jacket over his chair. "Did you stay with Mom and Dad?"

"Nah, went home after you guys took off. So, where did you go?" Pidge asked, now abandoning her laptop in order to stare at Matt. There was that special glint in her eyes, and Matt knew it was hopeless to keep anything from her.

"We had a picnic while watching the sun set, you tiny polygraph!" Matt told her, booting up his own laptop. "Don't you have some code to go through?"

"Did that already," Pidge shrugged. "Did you kiss? Are you boyfriends now? Tell me!"

"Yes, my tongue was in his mouth with his tongue, and there was much of saliva involved."

"Eugh, gross! I hate you!" Pidge wailed, clapping her hands over her ears.

"Maybe you should curve that appetite for knowledge you have going on, Pidgeon, sometimes you might get more than you bargained for," Matt grinned, throwing a cookie at her, that she snatched nimbly from the air.

"You're the worst," Pidge said, stuffing the cookie in her mouth. "I hope you choke on your cookie!"

"Love you too! No shut up," Matt blew a kiss at his sister and got to work.

When Matt worked, he lost the sense of time. He wouldn't have noticed if the days had passed, instead of hours, if he hadn't made a special arrangement with the cafeteria for bringing them lunch in the lab every day. It was the only way for them to stay alive, and that was the reason why the compartment had agreed on the arrangement. Of course, they could have stayed in without water and food, that's how they've done it in their youth, but it wasn't in the Garrison health policy to starve the employers; it usually brought out several health issues.

So, after 2 pm (the time had been specially arranged for their needs, too, because neither of them was anywhere the lab before 10 am unless they had spent the whole night in there), a tray was brought to the side table of their lab.

Matt became aware of the arrival of the meal only because he had skipped the breakfast and the scent of something baked found his nostrils. Still, he didn't move until hearing Pidge get up from her chair because he was just about to find the solution to the problem he'd been working with for the previous weeks. At least, he was pretty sure about that. Wouldn't be the first time he'd thought about cracking it, but this time it felt different!

"Damn!" Matt said, pushing his chair from the table. "I wanna be a cyborg, wouldn't need to eat."

"Yeah, that'd be cool," Pidge mumbled, mouth full of bean soup which was in a bowl that had an abnormally large straw stuck in it.

Matt glanced at the straw suspiciously.

"Have you been playing with Teddy?"

Pidge shrugged.

"He's not yours alone."

"Yeah, I guess a monogamous 3D printer would be too much to ask," Matt sighed, grabbing his veggie burger and a box full of bacon. "Awesome, Carl's working today."

"Sweet," Pidge said, sitting down at least three feet away from any equipment.

The Holts had only one rule they obeyed without questions, and that was 'no food near the equipment'. It had made the trip to Kerberos rather exciting, what with the Holts eating while sitting in the middle of the pod, as far away as possible to any interface that could possibly be contaminated. Shiro had no such qualms, but he wasn't the one who had ruined a countless number of consoles, laptops, phones games whatever growing up, like Matt had, until he was five and the One Rule was issued. Pidge didn't know any other kind of life, so she didn't even consider it odd. 

"Yeah, it is," Matt said, munching the bacon with gusto.

"Why do you order veggie burger if you still like meat?" Pidge asked?

"We had a deal with Shiro, I eat more vegetables, and he skips the morning jog once a week," Matt explained. "It's not bad though, tastes goo-oood."

"Oh man, don't say it like that, makes me miss the food goo," Pidge grumbled. She had already eaten the soup, and was now destroying her sandwich.

The One Rule had also made the Holts quick eaters.

"I wonder if Coran knows the recipe for it," Matt wondered aloud.

Not that he thought food goo had tasted anything special, it was more like generic sustenance, but maybe it would be a nostalgic thing to offer to Shiro. Oh, maybe Matt could get one of those hoses and do the same thing to Shiro that Pidge had done to him, that is, spray his face with the goo. And maybe then lick it off Shiro's face. If he aimed well enough, he might hit his neck too, and if some of the goo would fall down on his chest, well–

"What are you thinking about?" Pidge asked suspiciously. "You've been staring at the wall, and haven't touched your bacon in two minutes."

"Oh, nothing," Matt blurted out, blushing under his sister's scrutinous eyes.

"Eygh, gross!" Pidge whined, throwing the rest of her sandwich in the trash. "You were thinking of Shiro, you have that same look on your face every time he calls."

"What?" Matt objected. "No, I don't! I mean, I wasn't! Shut up!"

"Yeah, yeah. I've lost my appetite now, so just shut up and let me work, and save me from your dirty fantasies. Geez..."

Matt flipped a finger at Pidge, then ate the rest of his burger, saving the bacon for the dessert. And just to annoy Pidge, he dug up his phone and sent Shiro a message.

>   
> Matt: You loved goo right?  
> 

Shiro answered pretty fast, Matt still had some bacon left

>   
> Shiro: Uh, well, not really. It was okay, I guess. Why?  
> 

The message alert made Pidge look up from her laptop.

"The One Rule, Matthew Copernicus Holt!"

She even sounded like their Mom. Matt suppressed a shiver.

"No liquids, so phone doesn't count," he quipped back, already answering the message.

>   
> Matt: Well shit bc I wanted to lick it off ya  
> 

"There are no extensions, you moron," Pidge said, but she was already typing fast and wouldn't even hear Matt's answer anymore, so he saved his breath. And it was a good thing, because Shiro's answer, which took a bit longer to arrive than the last one, seriously took his breath away.

>   
> Shiro: I'm not saying that it was bad.  
> 

Matt sniggered aloud but as he didn't even get a huff from Pidge, he felt secure enough to continue texting.

>   
> Matt: Yeah and also u wont be eating it bc I wanna lick it off u  
> 

>   
> Shiro: Who's to say I wouldn't want to do the same for you?  
> 

Matt nearly fell of the chair. The image of Shiro's tongue on his body was enough to make him sweat in a good way. A very good way. Also, he needed to stop this right now because maybe it wasn't a good idea to be sexting with your boyfriend while your sister was in the same room with you.

Oh god, was Shiro his boyfriend?

Matt was almost sure that he was. Also maybe he was too old to be thinking about labels, though who's to say that labeling came with an age restriction, and besides, rules were meant to be broken. Yeah.

>   
> Matt: Unf dont wanna do this now bc Pidgey is w/i 2mi radius gdi but laters bf imma show u how its done xo  
> 

>   
> Shiro: Oh, I _know_ how it's done, Matt. Also, say 'hi' to Pidge for me, bf!  
> 

Matt smiled so wide his cheeks were burning. Okay, so maybe they were burning because he was blushing like a teenager just thinking of Shiro calling him as boyfriend. And the other things too, because he simply could not stop thinking about Shiro's tongue. And why should he?

"Ohgod, Matt! Stop it! You're scaring me for life!" Pidge wailed, thumping her forehead on her desk.

Oh, yeah, Pidge was here.

"Shiro says 'hi', by the way," Matt just said, rolling back to his work station and continuing with the code. The sooner he got the problem solved, the sooner he could go home, or better yet, go to Shiro's and see what's what.

But it wasn't until way after 7 pm that Matt had the code fixed, and by then, he was so hungry the only thing he could think of was food. Pidge had left an hour earlier. She had thrown him a bag of peanuts that Matt was sure were from their house and actually meant for him because Pidge hated peanuts. So he had graciously waved her goodbye, poured the peanuts in his mouth and continued working.

His phone buzzed on the table as he was closing off the laptop. He picked it up without looking the caller ID.

"Mathematics Holt, how may I help you? And if it's not about math or physics, you've got the wrong number."

Matt heard chuckling on the other end and checked the ID even though he was pretty sure he knew whose laughter it was.

"For you, babe, it can be anything, not just math or physics," Matt cooed on the phone.

"Well, that's good to hear since I don't require help with either of those subjects," Shiro sniggered. "You coming home soon?"

"Yeah, I'm just closing– what? Wait? Which home?"

"Your home. I've been waiting for an hour already," Shiro said. "You forgot we made plans?"

"Oh, shit shit shit shit, ohgod, I'm so sorry, I'll be there in ten, no, let's say seven minutes! Don't leave! Don't move!" Matt yelled while he took off so fast he forgot to put out the lights from the lab.

"No worries, I'm not going anywhere. Please, don't speed," Shiro said while Matt was sprinting through the empty hallways. "Well, don't speed too much."

Clearly Shiro knew the promises Matt just couldn't make.

"Okay, babe, I'm gonna need my both hands now, see you in six minutes!" Matt said, panting, and pocketed his phone.

It took eight minutes but only because Matt was thinking of how disappointed Shiro would look if he found out that Matt had pulled out onto the shoulder and edged past the other cars. But as soon as he parked in front of his house, he hopped off the bike and ran in, barely registering that the door was unlocked.

He had totally not forgotten that they had made plans, he had just been distracted for a while which of course happened all the time he was working.

"Honey, I'm home!" Matt yelled, pushing the door close with his ass.

"In the kitchen," Shiro hollered back.

Matt furrowed his brows. Shiro and the kitchen didn't match at all, and he was feeling little nervous about the fact that it was _his kitchen_ Shiro was at. But nevertheless, he crept forward until he could peek in from the doorway.

Shiro was standing by the stove, his back turned towards the door. Matt couldn't see what he was doing.

"What'cha got there, beefcake?" Matt asked warily. He was pretty sure that Shiro didn't have a concealed bomb though, so he stepped in.

"Oh, I ordered Chinese from that place you like," Shiro said, turning over with a tray in his hands. There were two plates on the tray, and the food was placed on the plates which was something Matt never did. He always ate from the box.

"That's fancy," Matt commented, walking closer, until he was on the other side of the kitchen isle. He leaned on the desk, staring at the plates.

"Yeah, I wanted it to be more special, but I can't really cook, so..."

Shiro's cheeks were slightly rosy, and Matt's heart skipped a beat.

"Oh my god, you're so adorable," he breathed, reaching out to grab Shiro by the neck.

"Careful!" Shiro yelped, laying the tray down, before letting Matt pull him closer. "Don't want to eat from the floor."

"I'll eat on you," Matt said, not making any sense, but he was busy kissing Shiro, so it didn't really matter.

They had kissed so much the previous night that Matt had to stop by the pharmacy to get some lip balm for his chapped lips. But he was still hungry for more kisses, and since Shiro didn't resist, he was clearly feeling the same way.

After the first brief kiss, Matt went around the isle, pushed the tray a bit further, and sat on the counter, pulling Shiro close to him and wrapping his legs around him.

"I'm sorry I'm late," he whispered on Shiro's lips. "I could blame the traffic but you already know that's a lie."

"Don't worry, I'm used to it. You're never on time," Shiro chuckled, sliding his hand in Matt's hair, his other hand leaning on the counter, fingers pressing against Matt's thigh.

"That is true," Matt admitted.

"You're worth the wait," Shiro said.

The intimacy of the situation made Matt feel like he had butterflies in his belly. It was the same Shiro he had known for years, the same Shiro who had agreed to go on a date with him. The same who had kissed him last night, laid down with him under the stars until even their combined body heat wasn't enough to ward off the chill of the night.

The same Shiro Matt had pined for more or less all these years. And now, finally, he had a chance to make it something real. And having Shiro against him, their lips touching every now and then, their hands wandering on each other's bodies, well, that was the most tangible Matt could even think of.

"Oh, babe, you too," Matt said, grinning.

Then he proceeded to kiss Shiro silly until they were both out of breath.

 

After the dinner, Matt lay down on the couch and had Shiro sprawled almost on top of him. The weight felt nice, and he kept petting Shiro's hair, his eyes almost closing. He wasn't really tired, just content because nothing felt better than having someone breathe right next to him.

"It's getting late," Shiro said barely audible because his face was stuffed between Matt and the back of the couch.

"Nah, it's only ten," Matt said, after checking the time. "We could watch a movie if you like?"

Shiro pushed up and leaned on his elbow, looking down at Matt. He was smiling as he kissed him gently.

"I'm going to fall asleep if we start to watch a movie now."

"So?" Matt asked. He didn't see the problem.

"I won't be able to go home if I fall asleep here," Shiro explained, his voice very soft.

"So?" Matt asked again. Still not a problem.

Shiro chuckled and shook his head. His hair tickled Matt's chin, and he pushed it back to be able to kiss Shiro again.

"Stay the night," Matt said between the kisses.

Shiro lips wandered along Matt's chin, until he nibbled his earlobe.

"I don't have my pajamas," he whispered in Matt's ear.

The words had an electrifying effect on Matt. His eyes shoot open, and he drew a sharp breath. Shiro pulled back a couple of inches to look at Matt, still smiling.

"I'm sure I won't go blind even if I see you naked," Matt said with the little breath he still had. The thought of Shiro laying on his bed, completely naked and within his reach, well, it kind of made his throat dry up all the sudden.

"I'm sure you won't but..." the rest of the sentence drowned in the kiss that was much more heated than the last ones combined. Matt was panting when Shiro pulled back again. "But I have to go to work early. And I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen if I stay the night."

" _Oh my god_ , you're such a tease, Shirogane!" Matt yelled, throwing his head back on the couch and catching his breath. "I'm gonna die of blue balls, and it's all your fault!"

Shiro burst into laughter, burying his face in Matt's neck, tickling him again with his hair, until Matt was squirming underneath him, laughing so hard he might have died of that too.

"I'm sure you'll manage," Shiro said finally, wheezing a bit while taking deep breaths to reach some balance. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Don't go!" Matt wailed, wrapping his arms and legs around Shiro like an octopus. "I won't let you go, you're just gonna have to sleep there."

Shiro kissed Matt's cheek and then snaked out of his embrace, putting a pillow on top of his chest. Matt stared at him incredulously, his arms locking the pillow in the place.

"How the hell did you do that?"

"You're not the only one who's good at martial arts, Matt. Sleep well."

And then he walked out of the door, leaving Matt holding a pillow instead of Shiro.

* * *


	9. Chapter 9

The alarm came off at 6 a.m, like usual.

Shiro woke up slowly and gradually, possibly because he had replaced his old alarm sound with a new one, and he actually liked to listen to the Imperial March, instead of the annoying beeping.

He was smiling as he yawned, stretching his arms above his head, and curling his toes under the blanket. The previous night, like the rest of the nights since Matt returned to his life, had been good. Better than good.

But last night... that one took the cake. Ever since their night time picnic with Matt, there had been so much kissing. He hadn't kissed with anyone so often, not in years! Not since before Kerberos.

Not since Adam.

Funny thing, thinking of Adam still made him feel the pain, but it wasn't as severe anymore as it had been right after their victory over Galra. He still felt the loss, but it was mixed with thoughts of happy times. As if being with Matt had made the time he had spent with Adam somehow extra special. Shiro didn't want to compare the two of them because they were both special in their own ways, and he had loved both of them in different times. But he had to admit that in spite of all the good that had come with Adam, he still wondered what would have happened if he had the nerve to ask Matt out when they were cadets?

He scoffed aloud, and got up. It was no use dwelling on ifs and maybes, Matt was here now, and if Shiro had something to say about the matter, Matt was going to stay in his life from now on.

He grabbed his phone and checked the five new messages he'd gotten during the night. All of them from Matt. He grinned, checking the thread.

>   
> Matt: Im cooold and miserable and the pillow is too soft babe I need your hard pecs to sleep!  
> 

>   
> Matt: Wont say now to some other hard things  
> 

>   
> Matt: Like candy you perv! Im talking abt candy ofc and you can suck it  
> 

>   
> Matt: The candy! suck the candy! gdi how are ppl _not_ making sexy jokes its too haaarrrdd  
> 

>   
> Matt: Gonna shut up now n dreamm of your pecs and abs and your tickly hair gonna grab it next time and just bsry mface inur nec  
> 

Shiro felt like laughing but more than that, he felt his pulse quickening just for the joy of seeing Matt texting him while he was apparently falling asleep, judging by the typos. It was ridiculous, of course, but he felt like a teenager falling in love for the first time.

In a manner of speaking, Matt _was_ his first love. He didn't like to think about it that much, but he had actually died and then brought back. Of course, no one knew, except the other paladins, and Allura and Coran, and apparently Matt, because Pidge had told him.

>   
> Shiro: Good morning! I hope you slept okay with your soft pillow instead of some other, less soft things under your head. I'm heading for work now, but I'll call you later.  
> 

Shiro stopped and stared at the message. He wasn't as good as Matt in using endearments but he wanted to add something to show how he was feeling. Because last night, leaving for home had been extremely hard, and he still regretted doing it. Even though he had a very good reason for wanting to sleep in his own bed. Also, they had all the time in the world. And there was no rush, they could take things slowly.

Still, a very big part of Shiro didn't want to take things slowly.

He grabbed the phone again and edited the message before sending it out.

>   
> Shiro: Good morning! I hope you slept okay with your soft pillow instead of some other, less soft things under your head. Maybe tonight I can sleep on _your_ pecs because Good Lord, Matt, you've got them growing almost as big as mine.  
> 

The day went by quickly, which was good because Matt never answered the text. Shiro wasn't too worried about it. Matt had probably overslept, or maybe he just forgot his phone home before dashing to the lab. And for the latter reason, Shiro spent his lunch break walking to the other side of the Garrison, carrying two large sandwiches and two cups of coffee on a tray.

The only one in the lab was Pidge.

"Hi, Shiro!" she greeted, looking up from his laptop. "You brought lunch?"

Shiro looked at the two sandwiches, then Pidge.

"Umm."

"Yeah, Matt's not here anymore, so you might as well give me the other one. I'm starving!" Pidge said, hopping down from her chair.

"Where is he?" Shiro asked, offering the other sandwich to Pidge and setting the coffee tray on the side table. He was very aware of the One Rule, after spending so much time with the Holts even before the Kerberos Mission.

"Dunno," Pidge mumbled, her mouth full. She grabbed the triple espresso Shiro had ordered for Matt, sniffed it and chunked down maybe one third of it.

Shiro stared at her, the rebuke ready on the tip of his tongue, before remembering that she wasn't a kid anymore.

"I'm pretty sure he's not coming back today," Pidge said after she was done with her lunch.

"Oh? Why do you think so?" Shiro asked, still munching down his own sandwich.

"Well, he took his laptop with him, and he never does that if he's not going home. Haven't you called him?"

"Yeah, I tried but he doesn't answer," Shiro admitted. He was starting to feel queasy. Where had Matt gone?

"You know, I'm pretty sure he didn't have his phone with him today," Pidge said, looking thoughtful. "I mean, I didn't see it all morning, and he's been texting nonstop the past couple of days. I wonder why."

She glanced at Shiro under her brow, before going back at her work station. Shiro felt the blush creep back on his cheeks and cleared his throat.

"Yeah, well, if you hear from him, tell him to call me, okay?"

"Sure thing, O Captain!" Pidge mock-saluted and grinned at Shiro. "Don't worry, he'll show up soon."

"Thanks, Pidge," Shiro said, smiling, before heading back to his office.

Shiro had been working for two hours, trying to make some sense in the recruitment applications. There were so many, which was good for the future of the Garrison and possibly for the future of the Earth, but how was he supposed to choose ten percent of the applicants? Most of them had excellent scores, most of them showed promising physical traits, and had hobbies which would help them to accommodate with the rigid hierarchy of the Garrison. Some of them were almost on his level with simulation scores, and that was before years of training and honing their skills.

He felt the phone in his pocket vibrate, and dug it out. It was a text, not from Matt but from Pidge.

>   
> Pidge: Go home.  
> 

>   
> Shiro: What? I'm at work.  
> 

He frowned at his phone. What was this about?

>   
> Pidge: Go home. Your door has been hacked.  
> 

Shiro stared at his phone for a few seconds, before realizing what Pidge was talking about. Of course. Who else would hack the door to his private quarters. It wasn't even the first time.

>   
> Shiro: Aye, aye.  
> 

>   
> Pidge: Omg you're such a dork. No wonder Matt's so crazy for you.  
> 

Shiro grinned. Of course he already knew that Matt had feelings for him, but it was nice to hear that someone else knew about them too.

He saved his work and jogged all the way to the officer's building, not caring if he got some strange looks from passers-by, what with him being in his parade uniform and running around the Garrison.

He swiped his ID at the screen to get in, and as he stepped in his apartment, he saw immediately that Pidge had been right. That he had been right.

Matt was sitting on his bed, cross legged, his laptop in front of him. He didn't look up as the door opened, probably because he was so immersed in his work, but as Shiro dropped his messenger bag on the floor, Matt flinched.

"Fuck! You scared the shit outta me!"

"What are you– I mean, how..."

Shiro was at the loss of words because not only was Matt sitting on his bed, he also was wearing his uniform jacket. And pretty much nothing else by the looks of it. His long legs were crossed, and between the lapels of the jacket Shiro could see that Matt was clearly no longer the lanky boy he remembered. His muscles were defined and covered with dust of hair that was almost as dark as his eyebrows. And as he got up, Shiro saw that he was also wearing boxer shorts.

That was very good because if Matt hadn't been wearing any underwear, Shiro might have died of over exposure of bare skin.

Still, he couldn't look away, his eyes roaming hungrily from top to bottom, registering the trail of hair disappearing underneath the waistband of the boxers. The blush that had spread from Matt's chest to his neck and cheeks.

"See something you like?"

Shiro could only nod. He wanted to step closer but it was almost as if his feet were glued to the floor.

"I took the rest of the day off, you know, to make up for yesterday," Matt continued. He walked towards Shiro and placed his hand on his chest. It felt so warm, even through the three layer of clothes he was wearing.

"I–" Shiro cleared his throat, "I can see that it didn't stop you from working."

"Yeah, well, you took so long that I got bored. Also, I forgot my phone home this morning so I couldn't call you. And then I didn't want to walk around the Garrison without my pants to try to find you," Matt explained while sliding his hand between the buttons of Shiro's jacket. "Didn't want people to talk."

"It never stopped you before," Shiro chuckled, but then he had to draw a sharp breath as Matt managed to open two buttons of his jacket with what seemed to be just a flick of his wrist.

"Yeah, I know, but I was wearing _your_ jacket. Wouldn't want Garrison to know every little detail of your life, right?"

Now Matt was so close that Shiro could feel his breath on his face.

"Yeah, no, that's, um, good call, Holt," Shiro said. He slid his hand underneath Matt's jacket to feel if the bare skin was as warm and soft as it looked. And it was. He went as far as feel Matt's spine under his fingertips, until he gave up and leaned closer, pressing his lips against Matt's.

The kiss was slow.

The time stopped and they were in their own Universe. There was no rush to go anywhere, and Shiro really wanted to savor the moment. He pulled Matt against him, deepening the kiss, breathing hard through his nose and enjoying the faint groan he could hear from Matt.

Only after his lungs started to burn from the lack of oxygen, Shiro pulled back, leaning his nose against Matt's nose. He panted, waiting for Matt to open his eyes.

"Wanna try if we can both fit on my twin bed?"

 

  
[ Art by [@hydraxx](https://hydraxx.tumblr.com/), remember to like/reblog on Tumblr ([link here](https://hydraxx.tumblr.com/post/185302985204/my-pieces-for-giraffvinus-shattbigbang)!)

 

*

Later that night, after squeezing into Shiro's small shower cubicle together because Matt had to prove a point and also because apparently saving water was very important, they lay on the bed. Matt threw his arm and leg over Shiro to 'save room'. Which was also very important.

Shiro was in a strange mood. He was still in a blissful stupor, but on the other hand, the reality of what just happened had opened all the gates. It was like a kaleidoscope whirring inside his head. All these memories swirling around, and he needed to get them out in the open.

"Do you know why I could do it over and over again? Face my opponents on the Arena? Kill again and again?" he asked, breaking the silence.

Matt didn't answer, just held Shiro even tighter.

"I summoned the strength from the moment when I realized they were going to make you fight on the Arena. And you maybe buff right now, Matt, but you wouldn't have lasted a second then. That was something I couldn't allow, and that was also the key to my success," Shiro explained, stroking Matt's back up and down while talking. "And the key to stay sane."

"You know, it scared me, you striking me down," Matt said. "Not because I was scared of you, I was _never_ scared of you! There was just this moment, just a second, when I didn't understand _why_ you did it."

Shiro kissed Matt's forehead but didn't apologize. He knew that Matt knew his reasons now.

"But still, dude, a year of constant fighting," Matt continued, his voice somehow almost too chipper. "That's some price to pay for my life."

"I'd do it again in a heartbeat," Shiro said with conviction.

"You sappy dork," Matt sniffed, patting his cheek. "Shiro the hero. You know I'd stand a pretty good chance in there myself right now?"

"Yeah, you would," he admitted. "I'd still do it because–"

Shiro stopped talking and just breathed into Matt's hair. The words he was about to say... he didn't know if it was the time to say them yet. He wasn't really afraid of saying them, but still hesitated.

"What?" Matt asked, digging his fingers in Shiro's ribs, making him squirm.

"I– because I love you," he blurted out.

Matt stayed perfectly still for several seconds.

"Well, fuck, I didn't expect _that,_ " he finally said. "I thought you were going for something like, 'your life is more important than mine', or maybe crack a joke, like 'you're still too skinny to fight in front of an audience' but this..."

Matt crawled up, leaning on his elbow and looking at Shiro in the eye. Shiro had trouble staying calm. He blinked, and felt unshed tears stream down his temples.

"Takashi, I love you too," Matt said solemnly, for once not making a joke. "But you don't really need to worry about me anymore, you know?"

"I know," Shiro sighed, closing his eyes.

"And I know that I don't have to worry about you disappearing for years anymore," Matt said in a rush, then winced, dropping his head on Shiro's shoulder. "Oh, man, I think you just turned my brain into mush, I didn't mean to say that."

Shiro was dumbstruck. He hadn't even thought about it, how it must have felt for Matt to believe _for years_ that his sister was dead. That they all were dead. He craned his neck to kiss Matt softly on his forehead.

"I am so sorry you had to go through that alone."

Matt scoffed, his fingers twirling in Shiro's chest hair. He stayed quiet for too long.

"The war is over, Matt," Shiro whispered gently in Matt's hair. "You don't need to worry about it anymore."

Matt pulled the chest hair sharply, making Shiro yelp with the sudden pain.

"I'm here, and I'm real, and I solemnly swear never to forget that you are too, Shirogane, but you need to make that promise too," Matt said, looking at Shiro. His tone was chipper but his words were serious. Shiro didn't smile but nodded, offering his left hand to Matt.

"Pinky swear."

Matt shook his pinky with the pinky of his own, nodding seriously. Then he dropped back on top of Shiro and let out a hysterical giggle.

"Oh man, that got too heavy."

"I know," Shiro said, smiling. "Pinky swear is a sacred promise, it's supposed to be heavy."

"That's true," Matt nodded, tickling Shiro's chin with his enormous beadhead. He continued to twirl the chest hair, making large, slow circles with his fingers, almost if he was making up for pulling them earlier.

Shiro recognized this behavior and waited patiently.

"Lemme take care of you, okay?" Matt finally said. "You're so worth it, you've always been. You don't need to prove yourself to me."

And while that sounded corny even in Shiro's ears, the words were sincere, and he knew that Matt knew it too.

"Speaking of heavy things," Shiro said, smirking a little. "It's getting a little hard to breath, so you might wanna consider scooching over."

"You calling me fat, Shirogane?" Matt huffed, smacking Shiro at the chest, but he slid down, burrowing himself back between Shiro and the wall.

"Thanks, Matt," Shiro said, hoping that Matt knew it wasn't just because he wasn't crushing his lungs anymore.

"Anytime, sugarplums."

Shiro chuckled, and after Matt complained about 'making the sleeping part fucking hard because you feel like an earthquake, dude!' he laughed even harder, until Matt grabbed the blanket and threw it on his face.

Luckily Shiro had his floating arm on, so he could tuck them both in properly.

* * *


	10. Chapter 10

At first, Matt didn't notice anything different. The scene was familiar, the whole gang eating together. If there was something odd about the fact that Keith and Lance had opted to make reservations at a moderately fancier place than usual, it was fine by Matt.

They sat side by side with Shiro, and Matt had his ankle around Shiro's ankle from the start. Shiro had khaki shorts, and Matt could easily toe his shoe off, so it was as perfect as it could be.

"Sooooo," Lance said, when the plates were more or less empty. He had ordered a couple of bottles of wine to share with the group, and still Matt wasn't concerned. Later on, Pidge teased endlessly about his random blindness, but at the moment, everything was good in the world.

Shiro, on the other hand, freezed. He stared at Lance, then at Keith, then Lance again.

"Babe? Everything okay?" Matt asked, wondering what had happened.

"They're–" Shiro started but stopped before saying anything else. He just nodded towards Lance, then looked pointedly at Keith. "Look at their hands!"

Matt looked at their hands. They were normal hands, no Galra tech anywhere to be seen.

"Yeah?"

"There's–" Shiro started, but he was cut off.

"I have an announcement to make!" Lance said loudly. Then he flinched because apparently Keith had kicked him in the shins. "Sorry, I mean, _we_ have an announcement to make!"

Matt saw Pidge almost vibrate on her seat, and Hunk was wiping away tears while Shay, who had been visiting Hunk for the last two weeks, offered Hunk more serviettes.

Lance was grinning at Hunk, then he raised his glass.

"Okay, so here it comes! We are getting married in three weeks!" Lance announced, grinning like a half-wit while Keith, who Matt had seen smiling maybe three times during the last years, had almost a matching smile on his face.

Shiro had tears in his eyes, and he was staring at Keith open mouthed. Keith looked back at him, still smiling like a winner, now holding Lance's hand because he had pulled him up while announcing the big revelation. The other party members all yelled their congratulations, all except Hunk who was weeping uncontrollably and Shay who was hugging him with one arm, trying to calm him.

"Babe?" Matt asked dumbstruck, grabbing Shiro's hand. "Did you know about this?"

"No, I didn't know," Shiro said, and then raised his voice to carry over the laughter, "because apparently I wasn't kept in the loop!"

"Sorry, dude," Lance laughed, shrugging, "we only got engaged yesterday, so that's why we wanted to go to this fine establishment instead of the usual pizza joint."

"No bashing of pizza joints!" Matt yelled, standing up and pulling Shiro with him. He hugged first Lance, patting his back, and then Keith who for once actually hugged him back. "Look at you, socializing and everything!"

"Bite me," Keith chuckled without heat.

Matt stood aside and let Shiro pull Keith closer, hugging him way longer than he did. He also saw tears in Shiro's eyes, the poor sap, but he thought that if Pidge had announced her engagement, he might be weeping too. And not just for the poor person going to marry her.

Thinking of the devil... Matt turned around and saw Pidge staring back at him, looking extremely smug. Matt glanced at Shiro but since he was in no hurry to release Keith, Matt slid closer to Pidge.

"You knew." It wasn't even a question.

"You didn't? Sloppy, Mattie, very sloppy," Pidge hummed, looking like it was her party, not Keith and Lance's.

"That's why you've been so acting weird?" Matt asked, remembering the amount of texts she'd been sending lately.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Pidge evaded the question. "But if I have been offering my help and guidance to Lance these past weeks, nobody will ever know."

Matt chuckled, looking back at the happy couple.

"So they owe one for a Holt. That's good to know," Matt mumbled, making a note to use this information later on.

"Not _a Holt_ , me! They owe _me_ one, and it's got nothing to do with you," Pidge sai, squinting her eyes menacingly.

"Just looking after you, dear sister," Matt said pleasantly, patting Pidge on the head.

"For that, I'm gonna make Keith ask both of you to be his bestmen," Pidge threatened.

Matt burst into laughter. He as a bestman?

"I'm sure, Shiro will manage just fine. I can give him tips for the bachelor party, though," Matt said.

"I'm pretty sure they'll want to have a joint bachelor party," Pidge said thoughtfully, "and as one of Lance's best person, I'm gonna be in charge of that, my dearest brother."

Matt stared at Pidge, noticing the determined line her mouth was drawn, and decided wisely to stay quiet and hold his peace.

Later on, as they left the happy couple, Matt drove silently to home. There were million things running in his head but he couldn't get them out. It was like he was on autopilot, driving relatively moderate speed, remembering to use the blinker for once! But inside his head was churning.

He parked the car and even got out, before he realized that Shiro hadn't said anything during the whole ride either.

"You were planning on staying the night here, right?" Matt asked apologetically, as Shiro circled the car and wrapped his arm around him. "I can drive you home too if you wanna."

"Of course I want to spend the night with you. And I like your bed better," Shiro shrugged.

"I'm just..." Matt didn't know how to continue. He wondered if Shiro should just cut his head open and reveal the mystery.

"I know. I'm happy for them, of course, but it seems so sudden," Shiro said, pursing his lips. "I mean, I knew they were together even during the war, so it's not really all that sudden. I– I don't really know what's bothering me."

"I think I know. We always thought that we'd be the first to get married," Matt grinned at Shiro who naturally blushed. "Me kneeling in front of you with a rose in my teeth, declaring my undying love for you, and so forth."

"And you'd have a ring?" Shiro asked, clearly humoring him but there was a certain glint in his eyes that made Matt's heart skip a beat.

"Oh, definitely! With the biggest diamond you've ever seen!" Matt said, nodding fiercely.

"And how would you propose?" Shiro asked, his voice low, almost whispering.

"I would ask if you really want to live the rest of your life with me, and when you would say 'yes, Matthew, because I love you so very much', I would ask if you have lost your mind."

Shiro laughed. They had reached the front door but instead of opening it, Matt turned to Shiro, looking him straight in the eye.

"What would you say?"

Shiro took his face in his hands and kissed him on the tip of his nose.

"I would say that I might be crazy but I'd want to be crazy with you."

Matt grabbed Shiro's hands and swayed them from side to side, staring at him. He looked so open and honest. There were no shadows in his eyes, no doubt whatsoever, and if he really had a ring with him, he would have proposed there and then, fuck the rules and the fact that they had been dating only for few weeks. They had known each other for years now, gone through fire, and ironically enough, they had both died and come back alive, even though Matt's death had been a ruse.

"Yeah, you poor sucker. I think you've stuck with me now."

Next morning, after Shiro left home before 6 am so that he had enough time to do his morning jog and shower before going to work, Matt lay on the bed thinking. He wasn't really serious about proposing right now. He would want to do it at some point, definitely, but he didn't want to steal the thunder from Keith and Lance. But there was some stuff they could do now!

Like right now!

Matt sat up. Fact one, he hated when Shiro left before he woke up because fact two, he would definitely like to get little 'something something' before leaving for work. And fact three, he _did_ own a house that could accommodate two people. Even more.

Matt winced. Maybe focus on getting Shiro to move in with him first, there was plenty time to think about the other stuff later.

He waited the whole day, for once not being able to concentrate on work. Fortunately Pidge had a day off, so he didn't have to explain his weird behavior to anyone.

Sure, Shiro could say 'no' but they would still continue dating, right? It wouldn't be like the end of the world. Of course, he would be disappointed but he really couldn't blame Shiro for not wanting to live with him. He was a very sloppy person, forgetting his stuff all over the house. Neither of them knew how to cook, well, at least he knew how to boil water, even that seemed to be hard for Shiro.

But it would be _so good_ to be able to wake up next to Shiro every fucking morning. To be able to fall asleep next to him, maybe little bit over him. Shiro was a burly man, he could support Matt's body weight. And have dinner with him. And have Shiro's things under the same roof with his things. Maybe wear Shiro's t-shirt. He knew that Shiro had an old Star Wars t-shirt that he'd been using as a night shirt at Garrison, back in the day they were both cadets. And Matt really wanted to see that shirt again, preferably on him.

Not to mention all the other things they could do in their house.

And Matt realized, he had already thought that it was their house, not his house anymore. And the shift felt so good there were goose bumps on his arms.

Maybe he should go home and clean up a little, maybe make some dinner. Well, at least get dinner that they could actually eat instead of trying and failing to do it by himself. Shiro had always loved the little bistro down by the lake. Matt didn't know if they delivered, but he could drive by and get it with him.

By the time Matt was driving home with the food, it was already over 4 pm. He parked in front of the house, just to find a hoverbike waiting for him, decorated with a Garrison logo.

"Honey, I'm home!" Matt yelled, after dragging the bags inside. There was no answer.

He dropped the bags on the kitchen table and went to search for Shiro. Since there was no sound and Shiro definitely wasn't downstairs because Matt just came through the living room, he climbed the stairs where the bedrooms were.

Shiro was lying on their bed like a starfish, fast asleep. Matt was good with math and angles, so he could easily see that Shiro wasn't lying on the middle of the bed. No, even while taking a nap, he had left enough room for Matt to lie down with him. And if that wasn't cute as hell, Matt didn't know what was.

He climbed next to Shiro, leaning on his elbow, and placed his hand on top of Shiro's chest. It kept rising steadily and calmly. He didn't want to wake Shiro up but he was too restless to try to nap and too eager to say his thing. So he moved his thumb in a small circle, right on Shiro's sternum, and hummed silently.

It didn't take long for Shiro to draw a deep breath, and his eyelashes to start flutter. Then he blinked.

"Are you humming Imperial March?"

His voice was like gravel, and Matt grinned.

"Sure thing, babe, it's the best way to wake up a fellow nerd."

Shiro chuckled, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

"Sorry for sleeping on your bed," he said after a moment. "I just sleep so much better here, must be the view."

Matt looked out the window at the trees, their branches swaying in the gentle wind, rays of sun filtering through them to the light square on the floor.

"Yeah, it's a great view," he admitted.

"It's better now that you're here," Shiro said, reaching out to pull Matt closer.

"So suave, Shirogane, you took some lessons from Lance?" Matt grinned, placing a small, chaste kiss in the corner of Shiro's mouth.

"Something like that," Shiro said, smiling and brushing Matt's cheek with his thumb. Then he glanced outside. "You're home early."

"Yeah, couldn't concentrate on work because," Matt crawled on top of Shiro, leaning his knees on both sides of him, "I had something on my mind."

"What's on your mind?"

Matt looked down and fiddled with the collar of Shiro's sweater before answering.

"If you like to sleep here, why not do it all the time?"

Shiro furrowed his brow, clearly not understanding the meaning of the question.

"I practically do, I mean, I haven't slept in my own bed for a week now."

"For fuck's sake, Shirogane, you're supposed to be a smart one," Matt huffed, slapping his shoulder. "I mean that what if you lived here too? You could sleep on this bed every night and nap whenever, or maybe we could buy a new bed, or even a new house, I mean, it's just a house, it's not like I've lived here long, there's absolutely no strings attached."

Matt was babbling now. He knew it but he couldn't really stop it. Fortunately Shiro had the means to stop him, and he pushed up to meet Matt and to kiss him straight on the lips. And that one wasn't so chaste. It was full of heat and passion especially after Shiro grunted in his mouth and threaded his fingers in Matt's hair to hold his head in place.

It was an exhilarating kiss and one of those that left Matt breathless. He was panting on Shiro's cheek by the time he moved to his neck, sucking and nibbling gently.

"Is that a yes?" Matt asked roughly, his lips almost at Shiro's ear.

"Yes, it's a yes. I thought you were a smart one too," Shiro huffed at Matt's neck, his breath tickling the sensitive skin.

Matt pulled up enough to look Shiro in the eye, his smile wide and eyes shining of joy.

"Aye, aye, Captain."

* * *


	11. Chapter 11

Shiro flopped down on the bed. He wasn't really tired after the moving in because he didn't have that much stuff in the first place. It was only after everything was moved in when things had taken a weird turn because naturally, it became an event.

Keith and Hunk brought in various kitchen supplies that neither him nor Matt would ever use, but maybe it was good to be prepared. At least now Keith and Hunk could prepare meals whenever they visited which, apparently was going to happen at least once a week from now on.

"It's like they're our kids," Shiro wailed at Matt in drunken stupor, while Matt was brushing his teeth in the _en suite_. Well, he wasn't really drunk, more like thoroughly tipsy, but since he drank alcohol so rarely, it didn't take much to loosen his tongue.

"You make a great mom," Matt said, a drool of toothpaste dripping from the corner of his mouth. He wiped it clean, grinning at Shiro.

"Pfft, I can't be a mom. I can't be a dad either, look at me!" Shiro wailed again, gesturing at himself, lying there on the bed in full clothes, not even caring that he also blocked the side of the bed that Matt slept in.

Matt finished his nightly rituals and came in the bedroom, his bare feet flapping against the hardwood floor.

"I am looking at you, beefcake, and you'll make a wonderful parent one day," Matt said, slurring only a little.

"Whyyy aren't you drunk? You drank more than me, and you're so tiny," Shiro grumbled, rubbing his face. It felt funny.

"That's because you have all these extra muscles, so they squeeze all the booze straight into your brain. That's science for you, babe."

Shiro scrunched his face, trying to think about the science behind that statement. It felt weird somehow but he could see the point. He did have a lot of muscles. And Matt was smart, like, super smart, he would know.

"Maybe you got a point, Matthem–Matt... ics," he admitted, burping in the middle, reaching out his hand and trying to grab Matt who was standing at least two feet from his hand. "Why're you so far away?"

"You're a cute drunk," Matt laughed, crawling on top of Shiro and sitting on his thighs, placing his hands on both sides of his head and leaning in for a kiss.

"You taste like toothpaste," Shiro observed after the kiss.

"You taste like beer and nachos," Matt said, smacking his lips like he was trying to figure out the exact combination of the taste Shiro had in his mouth.

"I ate some cheese too," Shiro remembered, trying to help Matt. His mouth was probably smart too and could figure out tastes in a molecular level, kind of like an ingrained mass spectrometer. "I like your smart mouth."

"You do?" Matt wiggled his eyebrows. "What about my brainy ass?"

"Yeah, that too," Shiro nodded and slid his hands to feel said ass. "How is it brainy? Doesn't feel brainy."

"You know those neurons that all the brains have?" Matt explained, rubbing Shiro's jaw with his thumbs. "You see, all the electric and chemical signals go through them, and that's why you get all tingly when you see my ass."

Shiro squeezed said ass for good measure. Matt was right again. He was in love with a genius.

"I'm in love with a genius."

"Yeah, you are, babe," Matt said, ducking down to kiss Shiro again. "And I'm in love with nerd who's the most light-headed drinker ever, BOOM ya!"

"I'll boom ya, sure," Shiro mumbled sliding his hands under Matt's t-shirt.

"God, you're a nerd," Matt laughed, starting to unbutton Shiro's shirt.

 

Next morning, Shiro woke up without a hangover. Apparently Matt's advice of drinking a whole carton of juice and eating the greasiest stuff they had in the house had worked. Shiro couldn't be sure because he really hadn't drank that much the previous night, just a few beers. So it was actually possible that because of Matt's advice he just had a stone in his stomach. Maybe this would be the morning he would have his weekly morning off from jogging. Yeah, that sounded like a plan.

He sat up and yawned, stretching his arms high up in the air and noticing that he never shut off his prosthesis for the night. It didn't hurt, he just had a mental image of his arm flying around the house while he was sleeping, doing whatever it wanted. And the crazy part of it was that when he had told his reasons to Matt, he had gotten excited and tried to make him fall asleep at that second.

Dating a nerd was sometimes difficult.

He got up and padded to the bathroom for the necessary morning things like peeing and brushing his teeth because his mouth tasted like something had died in there. Apparently he had skipped the brushing the previous night.

"Babe, you up?" Matt called from downstairs.

Shiro could hear something sizzling and ventured a guess that Matt was frying eggs and bacon. He couldn't smell anything from the toothpaste, and after getting that particular hit in his nose, his sense of smell had been generally off anyway.

He spit his mouth clear and rinsed it.

"Yeah, I'm up."

His voice sounded weirdly low in his own ears but he thought nothing of it. It would pass.

Downstairs was in chaos. Shiro blinked a couple times after descending down the last of the stairs. There were beer cans everywhere, and the the living room rug was pushed aside to make room for the Twister mat. Also, there was half eaten pie on the recliner. It was fortunately still in the dish but Shiro was sure that the one eating it while sitting in the chair had left crumbles.

Also he was pretty sure it had been Lance. Or maybe Matt.

He grabbed the dish while passing the chair, and toed the Twister mat out, replacing it with the rug they had bought at the store while getting the new drawer for Shiro. It had swirls of colors in it, but they were muted and somehow got along pretty well. Not that Shiro was an expert on colors but he liked it.

"Made us breakfast," Matt said as a way of greeting as Shiro reached the kitchen. "Or if you wanna eat the rest of the pie, that's cool too, more bacon for me. You sure liked the pie last night."

"Oh," Shiro said, blushing a little. "Maybe I just put it in the fridge and we can have it later."

"Sure thing, babe," Matt answered easily, reaching out to give Shiro a kiss on his cheek.

Shiro poured coffee for the both of them, realizing he still didn't know how Matt took his coffee.

"One third milk for me, you pagan," Matt said, sliding the bacons on two plates, eyeing Shiro's mug that was filled to the brim with black coffee.

"If I wanna drink milk, I drink it without coffee," Shiro grumbled, spoiling Matt's perfectly good coffee with a huge amount of milk and placing both mugs on the table.

He sat down, sipping carefully his coffee and looking at Matt who twirled around the kitchen like he knew what he was doing. And apparently he did because the bacon was only slightly burnt, and the eggs were surprisingly not like rubber, as they would have been had Shiro been the one doing them.

Shiro dug in with gusto.

"I didn't know you could actually cook," he admitted, after taking a bite.

"Yeah, I really don't. This is my bravura. And I'm only doing this to impress you, big guy," Matt laughed. "On a regular day, I would have burnt everything and would probably only have coffee to go before work."

"Well, I'm officially impressed," Shiro said, hooking his ankle around Matt's and rubbing his calf with his big toe.

Matt just smiled, hiding his face behind the rim of the mug. This was a very unusual response from Matt, so it got Shiro a little worried.

"Everything okay?" he asked, after Matt just kept eating and staring at his plate and only occasionally glancing at him.

"Yeah, everything's brilliant! I'm just trying to wrap my head around the whole thing. I mean, it's _us_! And we can do this every fucking morning now! And I can't believe it," Matt said, speaking very fast.

Shiro smiled at him and reached out to grab his hand, slotting their fingers together and squeezing gently.

"I know. Wouldn't have it any other way."

He kept eating and missed the weird look Matt gave him.

"Dude, we're perfect together!"

"Uh, what?" Shiro asked, perplexed.

"Well, you're right handed and I'm a leftie, we can just hold hands all the time and do other stuff with the other hands! This is a dream come true!"

Shiro laughed and then proceeded to cough because he had inhaled bacon.

"Don't die on me," Matt warned him before getting up and patting him on the back.

"No– not a chance," Shiro said, after he got his breathing working again. "I think you're stuck with me now."

*

"I won't be needing all this?" Matt wailed in the changing room, behind the half closed door while Shiro was leaning on the wall beside it.

"Lance's instructions were pretty clear, so I think you do," Shiro apologized, peeking in and getting a full sight of Matt wearing only his boxers. It was a glorious view.

"Perv," Matt sniggered, sticking his tongue out. "While you're there, can you help me with these?"

It was an innocent enough question but Shiro glanced around, blushing slightly, before he snuck in to the cubicle, closing the door behind him. It was one of the bigger cubicles, so it wasn't that hard for both of them fit in there, still Matt seemed to bump into him all the time.

"Are you trying to make a scene?" Shiro asked, after Matt's butt pressed against him for the third time.

"Maybe," Matt mumbled, buckling his belt and looking at Shiro at the mirror. "Would you like that, big guy?"

Shiro buried his face in Matt's neck, just breathing in and out the familiar scent mixed with the weird odor of new clothes. He didn't unclasp his hands from behind his back though, because that would have definitely caused something, and he didn't want to get thrown out from the store.

"That's a no? Well, in that case, back off," Matt commanded, pushing Shiro further with his butt, because why not. After all, that's what he had been doing for the last minutes. "Need to put on the shirt."

"I'll grab the tie," Shiro promised, selecting the purple tie from the rack. It was the same color he had bought for himself the other day because according to Lance, they all needed to have something in common, and apparently, Lance and Keith were going to wear that color shirts.

Shiro raised the collar and draped the tie around Matt's neck as soon as he had finished buttoning it up and donned the vest. He didn't look at Matt but knew that he was staring at him while he tied a simple knot with ease and familiarity. It was something he was used to doing, even though tie wasn't a part of the uniform anymore. It was in his muscle memory by now, having to wear a black suit so often while representing the Garrison or Voltron Alliance. His fingers swept along Matt's chin from time to time, not because of a lack of coordination but more as a payoff for all the bending overs Matt had done just now.

"I love it when you do that," Matt said quietly, after Shiro was satisfied with his handiwork.

"Do what?"

Shiro glanced at Matt and saw him smiling softly with crinkles around his eyes.

"Do something for me and just go full-mode concentration while doing it. It's like I'm your whole world when you do that, you know?"

Shiro ducked his head, feeling the familiar blush rising on his cheeks. He adjusted the knot a little bit, just to have something to do with his hands, then lowered the collar so that it looked sharp.

"Well, you are," he said after flicking an invisible dust off from Matt's shoulder. "Aren't you?"

"I'm what now?" Matt asked, getting the jacket off the hanger and putting it on.

"My whole world," Shiro said, pulling the cuffs out of the sleeves for the appropriate amount and straightening the lapels.

He was about to button the jacket when Matt grabbed his hands. He looked up and saw Matt grinning at him.

"Yeah, I know, I know, I'm too sappy," Shiro forced a laugh, squeezing Matt's hands.

"Oh, man, you're the sappiest!" Matt crowed, bumping his nose against Shiro's. "And I love it. Oh, and I love you too."

Shiro smiled, this time genuinely, and kissed Matt softly, just brushing their lips together, getting the same feeling he always got, the tingling warmth inside of him that told him, without words, that what he was feeling towards this ridiculous man was real, and it wasn't going away.

"Everything okay in there?" Someone asked behind the door and knocked a couple of times.

Shiro jolted, backing away from Matt who was laughing aloud.

"Yeah, it's A+ in here, thanks for asking!" Matt called out because Shiro had covered his face with his hands and was remembering where exactly they were at the moment.

"I'm getting out," he said, grabbing the knob, after the sound of footsteps faded away.

"Unless you wanna try if that wall is sturdy enough for some heavy frotting?" Matt suggested, still laughing, grabbing Shiro's shoulder because otherwise he would have probably keeled over.

"Yep, I'll be waiting outside," Shiro said, rolling his eyes and opening the door.

He did look back before closing the stall and saw Matt staring back at him in the mirror, already loosening the tie. And he looked good! So good that Shiro had to force himself to push the door close before he would have done something he'd regret later.

Matt took only a couple of minutes to change back into his regular clothes and after paying for their three piece suits with matching ties, they exited the shop. As soon as they were through the doors, Matt grabbed Shiro's hand and fell into the step beside him.

"So, not a fan of goofing around in a changing room? How about a utility closet on Atlas? We never tried that before," Matt asked conversationally.

"No! I don't want my crew to find us half-naked onboard the ship!" Shiro protested.

"Maybe we could take Black for a ride and turn the gravity off behind the moon and just do it there," Matt said after a while of silent walking. It was always the silence that made Shiro worry what he was going to say next. "There'd be the whole moon blocking the view, nobody would see!"

"Uh, and I would have a threesome with you and Black, that's your suggestion?" Shiro sighed but couldn't help but chuckle at the suggestion.

"Wait, what? She'd see that? But we'd be inside her head?" Matt objected.

"It's not that she would see it, more like feel it. And that's something I don't want to try. Ever."

"Prude," Matt snorted, bumping his shoulder against Shiro's.

They walked past the coffee shop where they had their first coffee in years, a few months back.

"You want to grab something?" Shiro asked, nodding at the large windows bearing the logo of the shop.

"Feeling a bit nostalgic, Shirogane?" Matt asked but led Shiro to the door nonetheless.

The coffee shop was almost empty, probably because it was in the middle of the day on a weekday.

"Ice tea okay?" Matt asked, digging his bag for his wallet.

"Nu uh," Shiro grabbed his hand. "My treat, remember?"

"You just bought our suits!" Matt objected but let go of his bag. "Next you want me to call you sugard–"

"Don't say it!" Shiro yelped, making the barista jump and drop a mug. Fortunately it was a take away mug so it didn't break.

"You're so vanilla," Matt sniggered.

"I've just spent months with a bunch of teenagers whose favorite fun was to make dad jokes. So please, don't you start that too," Shiro said with a pained voice, making Matt laugh even harder.

"Well, with that _distinguished_ look of yours, I'd say those kind of jokes kinda come with the job."

"Unacceptable," Shiro quipped, ordering ice tea for both of them.

He thought of the lost color of his hair for a while. It had happened because of the Galra, because of Haggar and his loss of quintessence, but he had never cared about it before. Did it really make him look ancient? He glanced at Matt, who was looking at him with a peculiar face.

"You thinking about dyeing your hair, right?" Matt asked.

"Maybe," Shiro deflected. "I mean, I'd have to do it all the time, but people dye their hair all the time anyway."

Matt pursed his lips, swiping Shiro's hair to the side, and squinted his eyes.

"Sure, if you wanna, but I like it better this way," he finally said. "And I'm the only one who knows how far the color loss goes," he added, winking at Shiro.

Shiro blushed, naturally, because in his mind he apparently was still a teenager who couldn't talk about adult stuff without blushing.

"Well, technically–" Shiro started but was cut off by Matt.

_"The only one!"_

"Yes, dear," Shiro sniggered, grabbing Matt's hand.

* * *


	12. Chapter 12

Someone had thought it would be a good idea to dance on the tables. Now that he thought of it, it had probably been his own idea. But it was a great idea! Up until he lost his balance and fell down, only to be caught mid air by Shiro's robot arm.

It still hurt like hell because the arm wasn't in any way soft, but he was pretty sure it would have hurt even more if he'd fallen all the way to the floor and probably hit his head.

"Shiro the Hero!" he yelled as soon as he got back on his feet.

"Shiro the Hero!" all the others chorused him, raising their glasses.

The man of the hour hopped down from the table where he had been doing quite impressive grinding, and wrapped his other arm around Matt too.

"You okay?" Shiro asked, yelling at his ear because of the loud music blasting from the speakers.

"Always when you're around, babe," Matt cooed in Shiro's ear.

Someone wolf-whistled at them but Matt didn't care. He started a slow dance, pushing his leg between Shiro's legs, just swaying in place, pressing their bodies as close as he could.

"You're drunk," Shiro chuckled at his ear.

"Yes I am!" Matt announced, apparently a little too loudly because Shiro recoiled a bit. "But the problem is that you're not!"

"I'm the DD, remember?" Shiro said, his lips brushing Matt's earlobe. Man, it felt good.

"That felt so good," Matt purred aloud. He petted Shiro's body all over, feeling up the muscles under the ' _Best Men Do It Better_ ' t-shirt.

"So, you ready to go home?" Shiro asked, his breath tickling Matt's ear, making the goose bumps rise on his arms.

"I'm ready to go anywhere with you, babe."

"Yeah, definitely drunk," Shiro chuckled, pressing a chaste kiss on Matt's forehead.

Matt looked around. Keith and Lance were doing pretty much the same that they were, slow dancing and looking like they were glued to each other from the lips to their hips. Pidge and Coran were in some kind of dance fight, and Allura cheered at both of them. Hunk was twirling Shay in the dance floor which was probably a good idea because Shay would have fallen off the table if she'd be doing those moves on the table. And Matt liked Shay, he didn't want her to get hurt.

"I like Shay," he blurted out.

"Me too," Shiro nodded, looking at them too. "But I think we go say goodbye to them now, okay?"

"Sure, babe, whatever you say," Matt slurred.

He kept clinging on Shiro while they made their rounds. It was nice and firm and warm and if he was being honest with himself, it felt so safe. Maybe because his legs didn't seem to work all that well.

"Thanks, guys," Keith said after Shiro rapped his ankle with his knuckles to get his attention and informed that they were leaving.

"Yeah, thanks!" Lance chorused his words. "Great party you two threw for us! I mean, there's no strippers but–"

"I said no strippers," Keith cut him short, elbowing him in the ribs.

"I can do the stripping," Matt chimed in, raising his hand.

"Oh, I think we'll save that for later," Shiro chuckled.

Matt was little bummed out for not getting to show them his moves but the rumbling of Shiro's chest while he was laughing made him forget all about it. He held him tighter and pressed his ear against Shiro's chest, just listening to the sounds. The brisk thumping of his heart was audible even though the music tried to drown it. It was a calming sound, and Matt closed his eyes to concentrate better.

He heard vaguely Shiro say goodbye and then he moved. Matt stumbled a bit because he was ducked down, ear against his listening post. He sniggered at his thoughts, then stumbled again because apparently walking had become much harder just now.

"Here, let me..." Shiro said, scooping Matt in his arms and carrying him bridal style.

"Mmm, much better," Matt cooed, his head now pressed against Shiro's shoulder.

"No wonder you can't walk anymore, I don't think I'd be alive if I drank that much tequila."

"Wanna do some body shots?" Matt asked, only half serious because even though he felt so warm and cozy cooped up like this, the movement of Shiro walking reminded a bit like being in a boat. And Matt wasn't too great with boats.

Before it got too much, Shiro had stuffed him in the hovercar and buckled him up. Then it was quiet for a second, before a fresh gust of air swooshed at his face, and then he heard Shiro sit down next to him. He groped blindly until he found Shiro's shoulder, then his neck, then his chin and cheek which he pawed a bit.

"Stubble."

"It's been a long day," Shiro said, and Matt could hear him smiling.

He lowered his hand and let it rest on Shiro's chest again, trying to feel the rumbles. Instead, he found the steady beat and decide that it was even better.

"S'good."

"What's good?"

"Your heart beatin'," Matt mumbled.

He felt Shiro take his hand and kiss it on the knuckles, before placing it back on his chest. Until it slowly migrated lower because Matt was really tired and couldn't really...

He stirred up as Shiro picked him up from the car.

"Come on now, grab my neck," Shiro said, wrapping his arms around Matt and tugging him.

Matt did as he was told and was soon again in Shiro's arms, his head lolling against his shoulder. He fell asleep before they got to the door and didn't wake up again until Shiro laid him on the kitchen counter.

"Matt, you need to drink some water before going to bed," Shiro said, his robot arm supporting Matt's back, and the other hand splayed on his cheek. "Can you sit while I pour you some?"

"Shure," Matt said. His tongue felt like it was glued on top of his mouth, but he blinked his eyes and his kitchen came into view. It looked wonky, somehow, so he kept blinking.

Shiro pressed a rim of glass on his lips and held the glass while he drank. The worst stupor seemed to have gone by, and by the time he had downed half the orange juice, he could hold the glass himself.

"Thanks babe, m'mouth tastes better."

Shiro leaned on the counter, his hands on both sides of Matt, and he looked at him straight in the eye. He was smiling, and there were crinkles at the corners of his eyes. The look in his eyes was so tender that Matt forgot to breath for a moment. He laid his hand on Shiro's cheek and brushed his nose with his thumb.

"I love you," he said. "So fucking much."

Shiro leaned closer, kissing Matt gently, just brushing their lips together for a second, then he pulled back.

"I know. And I love you too, Matthew."

"I mean, I dunno why because I'm so drunk but okay!" Matt declared, lowering his hands on Shiro's pecs to feel him up through the t-shirt. "And I love this shirt! It's so thin."

Shiro laughed and his breath smelled like orange juice. He must have drunk some too but Matt hadn't seen it. He would have liked to see it. Actually, he liked to see it every time Shiro had anything in his mouth, or on his lips, because that was awesome.

"You're awesome," Matt said, and his breath, too, smelled like orange juice. "Hey, we smell the same!"

"Yeah, we do," Shiro laughed again. "Do you think you can eat something?"

Matt thought about it. The room lurched slightly.

"Nope, I'm good."

"Okay. Let's get you to bed."

"And you, babe, I want you to bed too!" Matt said, and then he didn't say anything, because his face was mashed against Shiro's neck. And it was too important to breathe the smell of his skin and feel his arms around him while Shiro carried him upstairs like he was feather light.

"You're strong!"

"You think you could carry me?" Shiro asked, toeing the bedroom door open.

"Yep," Matt said without hesitation, popping the 'p'.

"You can show me tomorrow, okay?" Shiro assured, laying Matt down on their bed. "Let's get these off."

Matt raised his arms and let Shiro take off his shirt, then he dropped down on his back and let him peel his jeans off, then his socks. Then nothing happened, so Matt slid his thumbs underneath his boxers and tried to jimmy out of them, but Shiro covered his hands with his own.

"I think you want to keep those on, they're your pajamas, right?"

"Yeah! Gots to have my jammies for t'night," Matt muttered, closing his eyes.

"Okay, you can't sleep that way, I'll just–"

Shiro tried to roll Matt over or pull him to the right direction so that his head would be closer to the pillow, but he was dead weight by now.

"Mmm, tickles."

"Okay, we'll sleep this way tonight then."

Some rustling. The bed dipped, and then Matt was covered by a blanket and he felt Shiro next to him. He threw his arm around Shiro's waist and buried his face on his shoulder.

"Thanks."

"Anytime, love," Shiro said, and Matt felt a kiss on his forehead.

After that, everything went dark.

*

It took Matt two days to get past his hangover. The first day he spent first in the bed, then migrated on the couch sometimes in the afternoon. He ate two pizzas after he first puked his brain cells out. It was terrible.

"Why did you let me drink that much," he wailed after the third time he had to wobble from the bathroom.

"'This is a special night and it calls for special measurements!' you said," Shiro reminded him, sitting by the desk and reading his emails. "And then you chugged down a third of a tequila bottle."

"Oh, right," Matt said, even though he didn't remember saying that.

"And I had Coran put you under surveillance in case you got an alcohol poisoning. But no, apparently your level of intoxication was just under the dangerous level. You were just very very drunk."

"God. Thank fuck they only had one bachelor party. I don't know how I could have done this twice in the row."

"Getting a little too old for partying?" Shiro asked, glancing over his shoulder and smiling sweetly.

"Never!" Matt announced, then held his head because wow, that was too loud.

"Sure," Shiro chuckled, continuing the typing.

The next day was easier but Matt couldn't concentrate on anything, so Pidge sent him home after an hour of twiddling around with the machines, humming whatever song he had heard while driving to work, and apparently, being a distraction to 'genius at work'.

And the next weekend was the wedding.

As Keith's best men, both Matt and Shiro were lounging in the tent that was put up for the grooms. They didn't bother having separate areas for them to get ready, instead they both were snuggling on the couch, Keith lying down, wearing only the slacks and a white tank top, and Lance lying on top of him in his boxers. They were light blue and had red hearts in them. Matt grinned after seeing them the first time, signaling Shiro with his eyebrows.

Shiro sighed, but didn't even try to deny it. Matt was going to get him the same kind of pair, no matter the cost. Which was probably under twenty bucks, so he could easily afford it.

There was also Pidge and Hunk, Lance's best persons, in the tent. And after a while, also Coran wandered in.

"Everything seems to be in order here!" Coran announced, clapping his hands together. "And I see that the blushing grooms have found each other. I never understood the Earth custom of betrothed not seeing each other before the wedding. On Altea, everyone slept in a pile the night before the wedding. The happy couple, all the relatives and friends."

Coran stopped talking and noticed how weirded everyone looked.

"Oh, on Altea, we had the bachelor party on the previous night, so there was much of Nunvil in the air, if you know what I mean," he explained, twirling his mustache.

"Yeah, we did that last weekend," Lance said.

"So sorry to miss it but it was bumpy ride back to Earth," Coran apologized. "Allura told me you danced! Oh, what would I give to been able to dance at your bachelor party! I must say, I was quite the twinkle toe when I was younger!"

"I believe you," Pidge said while she was passing by to go check where Hunk had stashed Lance's shoes.

"I love the sound of the waves," Lance said in Keith's ear, but Matt was sitting close and heard it too.

"I thought that's why we're having the ceremony here on the beach," Keith grumbled back, his hand sliding calmly along Lance's spine.

"I know. Thank you, babe."

Keith didn't answer, instead he kissed Lance on top of his head and then pushed him off.

"Go get dressed, we have only few minutes."

"Oh god, really? I haven't done my hair yet!"

"You're hair is fine", Keith said, ruffling Lance's hair. Then he saw Matt and winked at him.

"Did you see that?" Matt asked Shiro because no way that had happened for real. But Shiro wasn't looking at Keith and Lance, he was looking at him. "Yeah, you didn't see that. What up, babe?"

Shiro just kissed him, his lips soft and playful, just brush here and a nib there. Matt sucked in breath and slid his hand in Shiro's hair to get a better grasp at the kiss and went for it, whole body and soul. He could hear the others chatter around them but they had their own nook, behind the flappy divider and it might have been their own space pocket as far as he knew.

The kiss left him breathless, although judging by the panting that Shiro was doing by his ear, he was not the only one.

"Sooo, you come here often?" Matt laughed shakily, leaning his forehead against Shiro's.

"This is my first time but I hope we can do this again soon," Shiro said cryptically. He closed his eyes and smiled, and against his hand Matt could feel his heart beat slow and steady.

"The kiss?"

"Not just the kiss," Shiro whispered.

"Dude, we're not getting married on the beach! We're getting married in some castle, I want you in medieval armor with sword and all!" Matt snorted. His own heart was beating pretty fast just by the thought of them exchanging their wedding wows one day.

"That's the plan?" Shiro laughed.

"That's the dream," Matt nodded rapidly. "I will be wearing the rogue outfit with daggers and all."

"Can I just wear a monk's robe? I don't think I'd like to wear an armor anymore," Shiro said, brushing Matt's cheek with his nose.

"And hide all this gloriousness?" Matt scoffed, sliding his hand underneath Shiro's jacket to feel up his abs.

"You'll see it after the party in any case. And the robe is easier to remove."

"You are a wise, wise monk, Shirogane," Matt congratulated him. "I deem your future wedding outfit worthy!"

"Okay guys, it's time!" Pidge announced from the front of the tent.

Matt glanced at Keith and Lance who were being hugged by Hunk, both at the same time, and smiled.

"Yeah, let's get these two idiots married first, and worry about us later."

*

Matt woke up not remembering where he was. That wasn't actually unusual, since he had slept in some weird places during the last few years. He blinked and yawned and turned his head to figure out his whereabouts. He saw his jacket thrown over a chair, his jeans dangling from the corner of the desk. Then he turned around and found Shiro fast asleep right next to him.

Oh yeah. He was at his home, in the brand new king-size bed they had carried in only yesterday because they were way too big to be sleeping together in his old queen bed. It had been fun, falling asleep wrapped around each other almost every night, but as the weeks went by, the summer heat had forced them to make a decision.

Matt glanced around. After Shiro had vacated his room at the Garrison and moved in permanently, his clothes were in their mutual closet, but it still was mainly just for Shiro's clothes which lived there. Well, maybe a few fancy clothing article that Matt owned stayed there too but his normal clothes tended to trickle out of wherever Shiro folded them in to, and migrate all over their house.

He made a mental note to really try to learn to be more careful with his belongings, though it seemed, that Shiro didn't really mind picking up stuff after he came home. At one point, Matt had found Shiro sniffing his shirt, before folding it to a drawer. 

Oh man, their life was weird.

"Our life is weird, dude," Matt whispered, not wanting to wake Shiro up. He had a nightmare during the night, and after waking him up, Matt had talked Shiro into sleep again, prattling about everything and anything as long as his breathing had calmed down. Apparently, listening to Matt talk calmed him down. Who would have known?

Shiro was almost smiling as Matt stroke his temple with one finger, enjoying the prickle of the stubble against his skin. All the worry lines on his forehead were gone, and there was a tiny drop of drool dried at the corner of his mouth.

Matt smiled and placed his hand on Shiro's arm, closing his eyes. It was a miracle that he was awake that early, and he really didn't want to get up yet. So he fell asleep, listening to Shiro's steady breathing, burrowing a bit deeper under the blanket they shared, enjoying the peaceful morning.

The peace lasted the whole of twenty minutes, until Shiro's alarm blasted the Imperial March at full volume.

Matt groaned and covered his ears with his pillow. It worked, because the noise stopped immediately. It took Matt a few seconds to realize that Shiro had turned the alarm off, so instead of getting a kiss on his lips, he got one on his shoulder, before the mattress tipped as Shiro got up.

It was only six, and Matt was determined to sleep at least another hour. Fortunately, he fell asleep as soon as he heard the front door click shut as Shiro left for his morning jog but he was still as tired as he before, when Shiro, fresh from the shower, sat beside him a little over hour later.

"Rise and shine," Shiro cooed in Matt's ear, swiping his cheek with his nose, before pressing a quick kiss on the corner of his mouth.

Matt wailed and tried to grab Shiro, but he wasn't fast enough.

The early days, Matt had succeeded many, many times with his superb technique of grabbing Shiro, pulling him closer and wrapping himself around his whole body. He was a martial arts expert and knew how to lock down a body, not that he had to use any force because usually it was okay for Shiro too. But as time passed, Shiro started to suspect that his performance at the Garrison was suffering because of his late mornings, so he stopped getting back to bed for a while before leaving for work.

Sometimes Matt hated the Garrison so much, and this was one of those times.

"Can't you just take the night off?" Matt complained, his voice muffled by the pillow that Shiro had put over his head again.

Shiro chuckled. Matt kind of loved the sound and wanted to hear more of it, so he threw the pillow on the floor. Shiro picked it up and flopped it back over his head.

"Can you?" he answered with another question.

Matt knew he shouldn't have gotten together with Shiro, he was too clever for his own good. As Shiro was logging out of the Garrison at 4 pm, or sometimes at five, Matt had barely started his day. Sure, he logged in at nine or even earlier, but his morning was spent in a haze and he got the real work done only after the noon. He wasn't an early bird, never had been, but he had tried to learn to move up his schedule so that they would have more time together.

"I hate you. And no, I can't. Not today at least. But after the conference..."

Matt had high hopes for his life after the conference in Denver Academy. He was going to cut back hours and make Shiro do the same. They had saved the Earth, fuck that, the whole Universe, they deserved some down time.

"Yeah, I'm going to talk with Sam about that today," Shiro said, removing the pillow and putting it on his side. "Will you talk with Sörensen?"

"Sure thing, babe," Matt promised, making kissing sounds towards Shiro. He still hadn't opened his eyes, but from the sounds that Shiro made, he was about to leave. And Matt wasn't that fussy about his morning breath that he would try to survive the whole day without a proper morning kiss.

Shiro bend over, and pinned Matt on the bed by his wrists.

"No grabbing this time," Shiro laughed at Matt's indignant huff.

He kissed Matt good, making it last for at least a minute until Matt felt like his brain was melting which was probably true because he didn't seem to have any blood left for his head area. Except for the blush that he felt all over his face and neck.

Shiro stood up and booped Matt's nose with his finger.

"Have a nice day, love."

Matt was so breathless that he couldn't get a single word out until the door closed behind Shiro.

"I hate you, Shirogane!"

 

After a cold shower and a quick trip to the nearest Starbucks, Matt was gulping down a hot triple Green Eye. The morning was fortunately filled with boring meetings, so Matt could sleep with his eyes open while the head of the department was going on and on about the budget for the next quarter. It wasn't really Matt's area, but as a senior scientist, it was expected from him to sit through them.

He got a stink eye from Sörensen, after he woke up with a soft snore that fortunately didn't seem to have caught anyone else's attention.

"You know, Holt, I've put up with a lot with you," Sörensen said after the meeting was over and the attendees were milling out.

"Yes, ma'am," Matt said humbly and winked. Sörensen rolled her eyes.

"Would you, please, try to stay awake in the next meeting? There's a lunch buffet after that," she pleaded.

"Huh, didn't know you'd stoop down to bribery," Matt snorted. "It's actually refreshing!"

"Good. Get refreshed, or whatever you need, just don't snore next time!" Sörensen shook her head and headed to the door.

Matt remembered his promise to Shiro, and called her out.

"Ma'am, you know I've been working very hard ever since the invasion, even before the end of the war," Matt started. It was best to state the facts and hit hard from the start.

Sörensen eyed him, her brow furrowed, and she gestured him to go on.

"Soooo, I was thinking, after the trip to Denver, I'd like to take some time off."

Sörensen crossed her arms over her chest.

"Is this because I told you off for snoring?" she asked, squinting her eyes. "Are you trying to blackmail me?"

"What? No! Of course not! Why would I–" Matt stopped and thought about it. "Well, yes, I understand why you'd think that, I mean, it wasn't _really_ blackmailing when I sent that–"

"Get to the point, Holt!" Sörensen barked.

"So! I want to take a vacation. I think I'm well deserved to have some time off, I mean, I've rebuilt the whole infrastructure of network the Garrison has, added its effectiveness over 300 % and–"

"Yes, yes, I am well aware of what you have done, Holt," Sörensen stopped the litany with a wave of her hand. "But not before Denver, I hope?"

"No, no, I really want to go to the– Wait! Do you mean I can get the vacation?" Matt asked, so excited he was almost vibrating.

"I suppose it's due," Sörensen admitted, smiling faintly. "And you do have plenty of hours in, I might add, so they will naturally be added to your vacation time."

"Thank you!" Matt yelled and ran out of the door, digging his phone out while he went.

"Shiro?" Matt continued to yell on the phone as his call was answered.

"Whoa! Matt, what's going on? Is everything alright?"

"Yes, yes, perfect! I just made Sörensen give me the leave and then she said something about me having worked too much and that I have to stay away from here for a while and I can still go to Denver but after that..."

"After that," Shiro said, and Matt could hear him smiling. "Congratulations, babe. Listen, I'm just outside your dad's office, I'll call you after I talk with him, okay?"

"Okay! Love you munchkin!" Matt continued to yell on his phone.

"Okay. No. You gotta stop calling me that," Shiro groaned.

"Sure thing, munchkin! Talk to you later, munchkin," Matt laughed and quit the call.

He was over the moon. He had literally been over the moon, over several moons, but this was something different. Of course, he had leverage and he was sure that he was going to get time off one way or another, but it was nice when people gave him things without the tedious blackmailing process. And of course, he was a genius, so they would never let him go permanently.

It was nice to be needed.

Speaking of being needed, Matt had reached the lab and waltzed in, sliding over to Pidge who had her own workspace in the same lab. It was way easier that way, than both of them having a different lab and needing to vid call all day long to each other.

"Yo, Pidgeon!"

"Shut up," Pidge said but there was no heat in her voice. She was just conducting an experience while vid chatting with Hunk.

"Hi, Hunk!" Matt hollered, making a sloppy salute to the screen.

"Hi, Matt, great to see you! How are things going with you and Shiro? Have you decorated already? I'm sorry I missed your housewarming party but you're still gonna get _the most wonderful gift_ as soon as we arrive, you're gonna love it!"

"Whoa, Hunk my man, slow down! Things are going _fiiiiine_ if you know what I mean," Matt winked at Hunk who blushed, naturally. Then he continued, "And we don't need to decorate, our place is awesome! You've seen it, right? And yes, we will graciously accept your gift, hmm, waffle iron?"

Hunk's face fell.

"Dude, not fair when you do that! Pidge, tell him not to do that!" Hunk wailed.

"Shut up," Pidge said to Matt again, this time with more frigid tone. Pidge really liked Hunk.

"Sorry, sorry, but if it's any consolation, Shiro has no idea what you're going to give, so it's still half a surprise? And I promise to forget everything," Matt made a cross over his heart.

"That you can count on, Hunk," Pidge said. "He forgets everything unless it has something to do with physics or math. Or Shiro," Pidge added as an afterthought.

"Oh man, it's gonna be so great to see you guys! We're almost there, so we have plenty time before the party."

Matt perked up.

"What party?"

Pidge flashed a warning glance at Hunk, then continued to tightening the screws. Hunk looked scared.

"What? Oh yeah, okay!" Hunk yelled to someone behind the camera. "Guys, I gotta go now, Shay's got something. See you later okay bye!"

And the call ended.

Matt walked behind Pidge and leaned on the backrest of her chair.

"What party?

"How should I know about Hunk's parties," Pidge said standing up and circling around the table to look at the android from behind. She wasn't looking at Matt.

"You're a terrible liar, Katelyn Marie Holt," Matt accused, following her. "Tell me!"

"I'm not telling you anything, Matthew Copernicus Holt, back off!"

She was brandishing a fairly large screwdriver, so Matt raised his hands and took a step back. Then another one.

"Fine! I hope I'm not invited!" he huffed, sitting heavily in front of his laptop, not caring about Pidge rolling her eyes.

 

It took two hours for Matt to realize Shiro never called him back. He shoot a quick text at him.

>   
> Matt: Soooo?  
> 

>   
> Shiro: All good, ttyl.  
> 

Matt stared at his phone. Shiro had used an abbreviation. He was just about to show the screen to Pidge but then he remembered that he was still angry at her. Screw that, this was too important. But as he turned around, there was no-one else in the lab.

"Well, fuck me sideways," he grumbled.

>   
> Matt: ?  
> 

>   
> Pidge: errands ttyl  
> 

>   
> Matt: That's what he said!!!11  
> 

He got no response for his text.

It was getting weird. First Shiro decides to not call him back, then Pidge doesn't answer his text, and Hunk knows something he doesn't?

Somewhere deep down he knew they must have a reason not to tell him, but he was too curious to care. Firstly, he hacked into the Garrison security feed to find Shiro. He didn't find Shiro but did find out that Griffin and Kinkade were doing it, and spent maaaayybe too many seconds staring at the action, even though he could barely see anything because even if the guys were stupid not to realize there were cameras, they were smart enough to hide in the shadows.

Then he tried to hack Pidge's phone only to get a slap on his wrist, and then spend the next half an hour catching the virus Pidge had somehow managed to sneak on his laptop. He was both annoyed and proud of his gremlin sister.

>   
> Pidge: quit it im too smart 4u  
> 

>   
> Matt: Asdfslkjghs  
> 

>   
> Pidge: driving bye  
> 

Matt realized two things at the same time. First, he needed more coffee. Second, Shiro was way easier to swindle than his little sister. So his best bet was to go home, wait for Shiro to come back from the work and do his magic then. Shiro's brain filter was the worst after they had sex, so that was his time to strike. Plus he got to have sex with Shiro which was always a bonus.

Of course, the same phenomena applied on Matt too, so he'd have to be sneaky not to give out any relevant information. But he was Holt, so he was born sneaky. That wouldn't be a problem.

The only problem he actually had was that he fell asleep while waiting for Shiro, so by the time he woke up from his two hour nap, Shiro had come and gone and left a post-it note on the bedroom's open door.

>   
> Matt,  
> Need to run some errands. I'll be back by dinner. I'll also bring dinner.  
> Love,  
> Shiro  
> 

Matt harrumphed and went back to bed. He was hungry but couldn't be bothered to whip anything out now that he knew Shiro got it covered.

* 

"Matt? Love, wake up," Shiro's voice cooed in Matt's ear.

"Fnidchenbrotcher!" Matt yelped, his nose colliding with Shiro's jaw. "Ouch!"

"Sorry, sorry," Shiro apologized, covering Matt's face with tiny kisses but wisely avoiding his nose. "Does it hurt? Lemme see–"

"It's fine, babe, no blood, no foul."

But he rubbed his nose gently for a while just to be sure, while Shiro concentrated on kissing his jaw. It felt nice. More than nice. If his stomach wouldn't have rumbled just then, he might have carried out his plan and seduced Shiro right there and then. Not that he needed too much seducing because apparently they were both as horny as teenagers.

"I could live like this," he said smiling.

"You are living like this," Shiro reminded him, brushing his hair off of his forehead. "Every day, every night."

"I like that," Matt grinned and wrapped his arms around Shiro who was leaning over him. "And I love you, Takashi."

"Love you too, Matthew," Shiro said, kissing him full on the lips. He held his tongue, though, and Matt was kind of glad because while he had no problems with his morning breath, he knew that if the kiss became too heated, he would never get dinner. Or when he did, it would be already cold.

"You're a wise man. And I'm a hungry one, so, what did you bring? Pizza?" Matt did a little drum solo on Shiro's back with his fingers while waiting for the answer. He couldn't smell anything except Shiro. Which, in the normal case, would have been preferred.

"You'll see," Shiro said cryptically.

Shiro rose up and pulled Matt up with him. He glanced the time and whistled out loud realizing he had slept three hours altogether.

"Wow, that was a long nap!"

"Yeah, it was. But I guess you woke up to see my note in some point?"

Matt nodded, stretching his arms high above his head and not missing out how Shiro's gaze flickered at the sliver of bare skin visible between the hem of his shirt and his jeans.

"See something you like?" Matt teased, swaying the hem of his t-shirt around, like he was doing a very bad and also very fast strip-tease.

"You know I do," Shiro chuckled, wrapping his arm around Matt, his palm sliding against his bare skin under the t-shirt. "Come on, let's get dinner."

"Yeah, um, okay," Matt stammered, involuntarily pressing his body against Shiro's. "Damn you and your callouses!"

Shiro laughed and led him to the bedroom door, knocking it open with his robot arm, staying by his side all the way through the hallway and stairs. It was surprisingly dark downstairs.

"Did you draw the curtains, babe?"

"Yep," Shiro said, popping the 'p'.

"Uh, why?"

"You'll see," Shiro grinned, pulling a chair for Matt.

"You never draw the curtains," Matt said suspiciously, not sitting down but instead kept staring at the darkened living room.

"I do too!" Shiro protested, stepping behind Matt and wrapping his arms around him. He pressed his chin on Matt's shoulder and as he continued, his lips brushed his ear. "I have a surprise for you."

"Yeah, no shit, I couldn't have guessed," Matt snorted, slotting their fingers together on his belly. "You're not a super cool ninja, babe. And neither is my dear sweet sister."

"You knew?" Shiro asked, surprised, pulling back a little. "Did Pidge tell you?"

"Pfft, she didn't have to, because _I'm_ the super cool ninja spy and _I see everything_!" Matt boasted, turning around and flicking Shiro at his chest.

Matt heard a noise behind him, and if he had to guess what the noise was, he'd say that someone had just scoffed at his words. As on a cue, the lights came on in the living room and a chorus of some sort of yelling erupted behind him.

He swirled around, bending his knees like he was half waiting to be attacked in their own home, before recognizing the people peeking out from behind their various furniture. There was Hunk and Lance behind the couch, Keith and Allura behind the long ass curtains that Shiro insisted they got, and Pidge rolling out from under the coffee table, like she was preparing for a battle. Coran stepped out of the bathroom, looking a little sheepish but his eyes were shining bright.

"Y'all a couple months late for my birthday. Unless you wanted to really surprise me, like, nine months ahead, and in that case, bra-vo!"

None of them answered, and Matt looked at them more carefully. Hunk had tears in his eyes which wasn't really surprising since he was the most emotional of them all, but then Matt saw Lance swallowing and _his eyes_ glistened too. Keith wasn't crying, thank fuck for that, but he did smile which was almost as scary.

But Pidge, his little baby sister, who usually kept her cool in every situation, was beaming! She had a look at her face that Matt didn't recognize at first, but then he realized, she was proud.

"Umm, guys? It's getting freaky," Matt said, feeling very unsure at the moment.

All the eyes shifted from him to something behind him, and Matt glanced over his shoulder. Then turned around fully because there was Shiro, kneeling behind him with a jewelry box on his outstretched palm.

"Babe?" Matt whispered, staring at Shiro.

"Matthew Copernicus Holt, will you marry me?" Shiro asked, and his voice was thick, like he was about to start bawling any minute. Kind of like Matt was feeling right now.

Matt stared at the box, then stared at Shiro, then looked behind him, at all their friends waiting with their bated breath, it seemed. And then he looked back at Shiro and snorted.

"Well, duh, you really have to ask?"

He pulled Shiro up and ignored the box for now, kissing the tears from his eyes and then wrapping his arms around him.

"Dude, you had to bring the audience? I would have bounced on you already but my baby sister's here, so can't right now. And that's your loss," Matt whispered in Shiro's ear.

"Bring out the ring!" Lance yelled from the background.

"Shut up, Mr. Kogane," Matt quipped over his shoulder, landing a long, wet kiss on Shiro's lips just to piss off Lance a little bit more.

"That's Kogane-Mcclain for you!" Lance shouted, but he was laughing at the same time.

"Okay, let's see the ring!" Matt announced, taking a step back.

Shiro smiled and gave the box to Matt.

He prized the lid open and saw that there were two identical, simple white-gold bands. He took one of them to look at it closer.

"I expected a cheesy line inscribed in here" Matt chuckled, blinking a little faster now. Damn his traitorous tear ducts.

"We can figure out something together," Shiro promised, thumbing Matt's eyes dry.

Matt grabbed Shiro's hand before it got too far and put the ring on his finger, kissing the knuckles for a good measure. Then he tried to pick the other ring from the box, but Shiro beat him to it.

"I love you, Matthew," Shiro said, kissing Matt's hand right on top of the brand new ring.

"Love you too, Takashi."

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all, folks! I'd love to hear what you think about it <3

**Author's Note:**

> Come find me on Tumblr/Pillowfort @giraffvinu also, check out @shattsunday for more Holy Shatt!


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